We Are Always Searching
by LazyApples
Summary: Sakura loved him-loves him still. She would do anything in order to save him, but the question is: Will it be enough? Join Sasuke and Sakura on an adventure full of tears, laughs, and love. Can Sakura save Sasuke from his greatest enemy? Himself? SASUSAKU
1. Where everything started

Okay, so here's a story that popped into my head. It starts off with the recent chapter in the manga, 477. So there's some spoilers in the beginning but then after that it's all my own plot : )

Well I hope you like it! Enjoy and please R&R!

**PS - This is the revised version!**

Disclaimer: I didn't own Naruto, I don't own Naruto, and I never will own Naruto…sad day : (

XXX

This was one thing that Sakura thought she was never going to have to do. Right now she was on her way to take the life of the man that she loved the most in the world.

Uchiha Sasuke.

She had to do it; She would not sit back and watch as he became consumed more and more by evil. It was the most painful thing for her to feel. Sasuke was getting farther and farther away from her and she felt it with every fiber of her being. She just loved him so much that she couldn't lose him to himself. She would be the one to release him from his sorrows.

As she continued to follow Kiba, she kept thinking about what she would say to Sasuke when she saw him. She was drawing a blank. What could she say to him? I love you so much so I have to kill you? That couldn't even be an option. So, she trusted herself to figure it out when the time came.

Kiba was trailing Sasuke's scent easily. Sakura was behind him and then Lee; Sai brought up the rear. They were all getting closer to Sasuke, much to Sai's displeasure. He had a clone back with Kakashi, Yamato, and Naruto telling them about Sakura's plan. If Sakura were to reach Sasuke before they got there, then there's no telling what might happen.

They were so close to Sasuke now that Sakura was able to feel two immense chakras ahead of them_. He must be fighting someone_ Sakura thought as she felt the chakras clash together.

A few minutes later the group approached the battle. They hid themselves as they observed what was going on. Sakura saw that Sasuke was fighting…Danzou! _Why is he fighting Danzou! What in the world is going on?_ She looked around some more and noted a girl with red hair and glasses. She was off to the side looking out behind some rocks. Sakura had no idea who she was. It didn't matter at that moment, however. She turned back to the battle and watched as Sasuke summoned a giant hawk. Sakura wasn't able to catch anything that the two men were talking about from her position. But, she was able to see that Sasuke was getting angry with what Danzou was saying to him.

The hawk and Sasuke swooped down at Danzou. Sasuke unsheathed his katana as he jumped at his target. Danzou reached out and grabbed his neck with an arm…full of Sharingans! _Okay, someone has to seriously explain what the heck is going on here!_ Sakura was so lost with everything that was happening.

Sasuke was able to bring his katana down to separate the disgusting arm from its' body. However, soon the arm disappeared and so did Danzou. He reappeared on top of a pillar. Then they just stood there staring at each other.

It didn't take Sakura long to figure out that they were now fighting with genjutsu.

_The genjutsu battle…_

Danzou watched as Sasuke disappeared in a flurry of crows. _What? _He suddenly felt a presence behind him. Turning, he found Itachi staring at him, sharingan blazing.

"Itachi! How!"

"Danzou, you need to pay."

Crimson tears flowed down Itachi's face. He reopened his eyes.

"Amaterasu!"

Danzou erupted in black flames. Itachi watched as the man before him was eaten by his fire.

"Nice try."

Itachi's eyes widened as a kunai was thrust into his chest.

"But, this is my world."

The world around distorted and reality could be vaguely seen.

_Back to the real world…_

Sasuke fell to his knees panting. His hands were holding his head in place. He was in such terrible pain at the moment. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to fight Danzou.

Danzou looked down at Sasuke. His eyes shone victoriously at the sight of the worn out Uchiha.

"I can see that you are now out of chakra."

Danzou ran at Sasuke and pulled him up by his throat. Sasuke gave out a gurgled sound as he felt his air being choked away from him. His body was slowly becoming less responsive. _Is this it? Am I going to die here?_

Danzou smiled smugly at Sasuke and threw him to the cold ground. He wasn't going to just kill him now. He would prolong his win as much as possible.

From the forests edge Sakura watched in horror as Sasuke was thrown to the ground, completely drained of chakra. Her mind buzzed and all she could think about was the first day she had seen Sasuke. The innocent boy that she had fallen in love with was now going to die right in front of her eyes.

Even though she came to kill Sasuke, she knew now that she would never be able to do it.

And she didn't want anyone else to kill him either.

So, she couldn't stop herself as she rushed passed the coverage of the forest. She didn't stop even when all eyes were on her. She ran until she was within 20 feet of the two men. Sakura's rage consumed her as her fist contacted with the earth. The ground beneath their feet shook and parted under the pressure. Danzou was surprised at the sudden outburst that he was forced to let go of Sasuke.

Sakura wasted no time in rushing over to Sasuke before he fell into one of the crevices she had just made. She awkwardly held onto both of his arms to pull him up into a safe position. When he wouldn't fall over she got to her feet and looked over at Danzou. Danzou glared at her when their eyes met.

"Aren't you Haruno Sakura? Tsunade's apprentice?" His eyes then turned to slits, "What do you think you are doing?"

She wasn't so sure of what she was doing. Her emotions were the only things that were driving her actions. She answered him with the partial truth.

"I'm not quite sure at the moment."

The red head ran down from her viewing position and joined the group.

"Sasuke!" She cried out with worry as she knelt down next to him.

Kiba, Lee, and Sai also came out from the trees. However, they didn't go over by Sakura. They were all unsure of what to do in this situation. Sai was very confused, wasn't she supposed to try and kill Sasuke? Then why did she save him?

Sasuke looked at Sakura's back. He was unsure of how he felt to see her there. He was surprised, but also a little weary. Was she going to try and bring him back to the village? Was she going to pretend that everything was okay? But what really surprised him more was what she did to the ground. When had she gotten such monstrous strength? This obviously wasn't the same girl that he left on a bench all those years ago.

Suddenly Madara appeared between Danzou and Sakura. He looked at Danzou and brought both of his hands up into a shrug.

"Sorry, Danzou. I guess you'll have to finish your fight with Sasuke later."

His chakra disappeared altogether and made Sakura jump in surprise when he suddenly popped up in front of her.

"You, you're coming with me." He absorbed Sakura into his mask.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"…!"

Madara didn't pay any attention to the girls' teammates screaming out her name. He turned to Sasuke and Karin and absorbed them both as well. Then Madara disappeared from sight.

Fu and Torune came back to the world - returning from one of Madara's worlds. Both men were faced down in the dirt. They were both still breathing and alive.

Danzou walked over to them. Fu woke up and shook his head. He slowly got up into a standing position.

"What happened?" Fu asked.

"We were hoping you could explain that to us," came a voice over by the forest line.

Danzou turned his head in the direction of the voice.

"Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi, Yamato, Naruto and Sai (the clone) were now standing with the other Konoha Shinobi. There was a puff of smoke and Sai's clone left.

Fu grabbed one of Torune's arms and brought it over his own shoulder. He then stood up and stared at the Konoha Shinobi. Things weren't looking good. He couldn't talk to these shinobi about anything that happened. He turned around and noticed that to his relief that his two companions were now ready to leave.

"Sorry, but we will be leaving now."

Danzou, Fu, and Torune then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi sighed and turned his attention to Sai.

"What happened here?"

"Sakura was able to reach Sasuke while he was fighting Danzou. When Danzou was about to win, Sakura launched herself into the battle. She managed to separate the two. Then Madara appeared and absorbed Sakura, Sasuke, and another girl into his mask."

Kakashi was boiling right now. He had just lost another one of his students and he didn't know what would happen to her. Would she become a prisoner to Madara? Would she be killed? There were so many things that could go wrong. Something wasn't right though. Why would Sasuke and Madara already have another girl with them? "Who was the other girl?"

"I'm not sure who she was. She had red hair and glasses." Sai thought for a moment. "She seemed to know Sasuke, though."

Kakashi nodded. "The best thing we can do now is all return to the village. We have to inform everyone about the situation. We will also be able to see if Tsunade has woken up yet."

Naruto looked out over the clearing. Why couldn't he make it to his teammates in time?

XXX

Sakura found herself in a place full of boxes. She had never seen anything like it before. She looked around and saw that there were boxes as far as the eye could see.

Her eyes then landed on Sasuke. The red-haired girl was still sitting close to him. Sakura felt anger well up inside of her. Who was this girl!

She calmed down a bit when she saw Sasuke glare at the girl when she tried to hug him. It was strange looking at Sasuke. When she really looked at him all she could see was her teammate. She couldn't see the man that betrayed her village or the one that left her on a bench.

It was just Sasuke. Nothing bad ever came to mind when she thought about him. Her feelings ran to deep to ever be changed.

Madara instantly popped up in front of Sakura. She hid her nervousness well, no one could possibly be able to tell that she was scared of this man. Hey, you would be afraid of a person who had the ability to disappear and reappear whenever he wanted to, too.

"Why did you bring me here?" She questioned. She was happy that her voice went along with her face and didn't show her nerves. She inwardly patted herself on the back.

"Was it true? What the old man said about you being Tsunade's apprentice?" He bluntly asked her.

"…Who wants to know?" She asked unsurely.

"Oh, how rude of me. I completely forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?" His voice held just a hint of sarcasm. "My name is Uchiha Madara."

"…Uchiha…?" Sakura looked over at where Sasuke was now standing. "But…?"

Sakura really didn't know what to make of all of this. Weren't Sasuke and Itachi the only remaining Uchihas left after the massacre? And now that Sasuke killed his brother, he should be the last Uchiha. Was this person really an Uchiha just like he said he was?

Looking at Sasuke's face didn't really help with her confusion. His facial expression was emotionless. But what she could see in his eyes was that this man wasn't lying to her. She still didn't know what to think. Instead of asking one of the many questions on her mind, she decided to answer him.

"Yes, I am the 5th Hokage's apprentice."

"Hm…So does that mean that you are also a medic nin?"

"…Yeah." As much as she tried she couldn't think as to what he was trying to get at here.

"Then, would you mind healing poor Sasuke over there." He pointed at Sasuke to emphasize his point.

Sakura looked at the young Uchiha.

"Why?" _Why do you need to heal him? What are you planning?_

"Well, you know he's probably injured from his fight." He shrugged. Sakura could tell he was just being a smart ass.

_Uchihas sure are difficult._

Sakura knew that he wasn't going to give her a real answer to her question. So, she just turned around and walked towards Sasuke. The red-head glared at her the whole time she approached them. Sakura didn't miss the fact that Sasuke had stiffened when she was only a foot away from him either. She told him in a quietter, "This will be easier if you lay down."

He stared at her for a few seconds before he complied with her suggestion. She kneeled down next to him and slowly put her hands on his stomach. As soon as she felt him beneath her hands, something hit her like a ton of bricks to the stomach.

This was Sasuke.

She was so close to him now. Her feelings came at her intensified as her hands glowed with her chakra. She closed her eyes partly in concentration, but also because she didn't want him to see the emotion that was surely flooding her eyes.

She restored his body to its original condition. His chakra was pretty much still drained though; He needed to rest for that to restore.

"Alright, you're fine now. All you need is rest."

As she looked down at Sasuke, Sakura thought about how she had told herself that she was going to kill him. And yet here she was, healing him. But she knew, as soon as she saw him fighting on the bridge with Danzou, that she couldn't kill him. She didn't think this way because he was stronger than she was, but because she loved him. She loved him with her whole being.

Her face was set in determination at her next thought. She would save him from his own hell. She would. No matter what she had to do, she would do it. For the man she loved.

She stood up and turned her attention back to Madara. He seemed to be calling the shots around here.

"So, what now?"

Sakura was _not_ expecting what came out of his mouth next.

"You come with us."

Sakura openly gaped at the masked man.

"Why would you want me to come with you?" She was in shock, so her question came out a bit shakily.

"You are a highly skilled medic nin. It would be very useful for you to stick around with us." He rationally explained to her.

Sakura didn't know what else to say. She wouldn't be able to take on Madara in a fight. She was good, but she wasn't _that_ good. And she knew it.

She could try and run away. But that seemed highly impossible because she didn't know where they all were.

Then she remembered her promise to save Sasuke. This was her one chance and she was thinking of ways to get out of it!

She could find an opportune moment to escape later. This would also be a good chance for her to save Sasuke. She would be with him for a while, so she would definitely take advantage of every opportunity she was given.

She knew she could do this.

She had to.

XXX

Thank you for reading We Are Always Searching!

I hope you enjoyed it, so please review!


	2. Don't lose hope

So, Winter vacation is almost over….school starts soon : (

That makes me sad…

Thank you to the people who reviewed, they made me very happy!

Well, here's the next chapter! Please enjoy and remember to Review!

Disclaimer: If Naruto ever went on EBay I would buy it in a heartbeat, but we all know that that's never going to happen.

XXX

"Fine, I'll go with you."

"Smart girl."

Sakura looked at Madara for a few more seconds before turning to Sasuke and that girl. She walked over to them.

"Since I'm going to be your companion, who are you?" Her question towards the girl became colder with every word she spoke.

"Why should I answer you?"

Sakura felt a vein throb on her forehead. She did not like this girl one bit. Nope, not a bit.

Not wanting to speak to the girl any longer Sakura turned towards Sasuke. Their eyes met and she didn't look away. She wanted to show him that she wasn't intimidated by him anymore, even though on the inside she was still unsure of herself around him. But, she wouldn't let him see that.

"Who is this annoyance?" Sakura asked him.

Sasuke sighed, "Karin."

"And, why is she here?" The claws were starting to come out now.

"I used her as a tracker." He said bluntly.

Sakura turned to Madara.

"So, we don't need her anymore right?"

Karin opened her mouth in astonishment. Who was she to say that they could get rid of her just like that!?

Sasuke suppressed a smirk that was beginning to form. Sakura sure grew more confident since he was gone.

Madara chuckled at the pink -haired girl. She was quite amusing.

"Her abilities may come in handy for us later. Other than that, she is useless."

Karin still had her mouth hung open, astonished. These people were just insulting her right and left. She had to redeem herself somehow.

"Hey, pinky! At…At least I don't…have strength like a monster!"

Sakura stared blankly at Karin before her face broke out into a huge grin.

"Either that was a really pathetic attempt at an insult or it was a compliment. I'll take it as a compliment, though. So, thank you very much!"

This time Sasuke didn't hide his smirk. He was glad that Karin got what was coming to her. Sasuke had to agree with Sakura, Karin did come up with a really bad insult. He had to admit that he was amazed when he had seen Sakura, _Sakura_, smash the ground to pieces like it was nothing. He was impressed.

Sakura laughed when she saw Karin's face react to what she said. Sakura knew that Darin wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box.

Madara stopped everyone when he spoke.

"We're leaving."

Sakura's world went dark all around her. It felt as if she hadn't moved a muscle, but when light returned to her world she saw that they were now all in a different room. The room was windowless with burning torches as the room's only source of light. There were boxes of supplies stacked all around full of water, food, and clothing. The floor was made up of some kind of hard stone.

Sakura went over to one of the boxes and tested it by pushing her hands down on top of it. She then hoisted herself on the crate. Happy that it didn't break under her weight she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. The questions that she wanted to ask came into her mind. She didn't know what question she wanted to ask first.

Madara's voice was, once again, the thing that broke her out of her thought.

"I'm going now. I'll only be gone for a day, so you will stay here until I return." He then disappeared from sight without another word.

Sakura felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders as he said that he would be gone for a day. She sighed in relief and looked around the room once more. She spotted Sasuke sitting on the floor ten or so feet away from her. Karin was sitting farther away from them glaring at he floor.

Sakura got up from her box and slowly made her way over to Sasuke. His eyes glanced over her before looking back down at his hands. She mentally took a deep breath and sat down next to him on the floor. She leaned her head on the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

"What's happening?" She whispered out into the room. Sasuke looked at her, not sure what exactly she was asking.

Sakura turned her head in his direction and looked at him straight in the eyes. What she saw took her breath away. In Sasuke's eyes was anger and sadness. His face gave nothing away, but his eyes told her everything he was feeling.

"What happened to you, Sasuke?" She felt like reaching out to comfort him, but she quickly let the feeling die. She watched him, unsure as to if her would actually answer her or not.

They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Sakura saw that the feelings of anger left his eyes completely. They were now consumed by sadness and regret.

"Everything."

Sakura's eyes widened as his voice broke the long silence. His voice almost sounded vulnerable. She's never seen Sasuke like this before. It was like he was broken and lost. He looked like he needed reassurance.

Sakura hesitantly brought her hand up and let it rest on his arm. She couldn't take the look in his eyes anymore. She wanted to turn away from his gaze, but found that she couldn't. she was trapped with no way out.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. What could she tell him? That everything was going to be alright? That would just be a promise that she wasn't sure she could fulfill.

They sat there awhile longer before Sakura said anything.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"…no."

With that Sasuke broke eye contact. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Sakura looked at his face. He was beautiful. She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "I'm sorry…for everything."

Sasuke, surprised, opened his eyes slightly. They remained on this ceiling, however, instead of looking at his old teammate.

She leaned away from him and sat up straighter.

"You know how I got to your fight with Danzou?" She looked away from him, "I came to confess to Naruto that I had feelings for him. He said I was lying to myself…he was right." She let out a sigh and continues. "The reason why I came up to the Land of Iron was because I wanted to find you…and kill you."

Sasuke was taken aback at her words. He also found the thought of Sakura coming to kill him, unsettling. He didn't want to think about Sakura changing. Even if she was a stronger person now, he still didn't know this new Sakura. Everything around him was changing. His view of the world in particular. Everything he believed in was all a lie. He was lost and he couldn't find his way out.

Sakura continued.

"But, I couldn't bring myself to look at you and think of killing you. I couldn't imagine living in a world without you…you are still important to me." She turned her head in his direction and gave him a sad smile.

"Don't lose your hope in the world, Sasuke."

Sasuke was shocked at what she said. He didn't know how to respond. She told him something so significant. His eyes were still wide as he watched Sakura stand up and walk back to the crate she was sitting on before.

Sakura noticed that Karin was now glaring at her.

_'Let her glare, she's not important.'_ Sakura thought as she took out her kunai knife. She went over to one of the crates and cracked it open. Inside she found some blankets and pillows. She took some out and set up a makeshift bed for herself. She knew that it wasn't anywhere near time to sleep, but she had to do something to keep herself busy. She then went to the other crates and started opening them, one after the other.

Sasuke heard crates opening, so he opened his eyes to see what was going on. He found his old teammate opening the boxes and shoving the contents around. After some more shuffling around she went on to the next box. She got to open a few more before he decided to speak.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura jumped in surprise and then turned towards him.

"I'm bored, so I'm looking for something fun to do."

"…You're not going to find anything 'fun' around here."

"Well, you know…" She pulled out something from one of the crates, "a book can be a lot of 'fun'."

Sakura turned the book in her hands, looking for a title. She found none, so she opened it.

"It's a journal." She said out loud.

This caught Sasuke's attention. Why would a journal be down here? Who did it belong to? Curiosity got the best of him. He stood up and made his way over to Sakura. She opened it to the first page.

"Senju Hashirama?" Sasuke Said as he saw the name on the inside cover of the book.

"This is the first Hokage's…" Sakura said in disbelief, "Why is it here?"

Her question went unanswered as they both looked down at the object in her hands.

XXX

"She's still not awake yet?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Things sure were difficult.

"We can't wait another second. Yamato, send word to the Shinobi that I am to act as Hokage. I want everyone gathered by the South gate in 1 hour."

"Yes." Yamato left the tent, following the orders given to him.

Naruto looked down at Tsunade. He then looked at Shizune standing not far from her.

"When will she wake up!?" Everything was going so wrong. The people closest to him were disappearing and he could do nothing about it.

"Naruto…" Shizune knew that no one would know when She was going to wake up.

"We're now in the middle of the Fourth Great Ninja War! We need her now!" Naruto clenched his fists, "Sakura-chan is missing, and Sasuke is still gone too! None of this was supposed to happen…"

Shizune stared at Naruto and watched as he went from angry to regretful. Something he said was unsettling for some reason. She went over everything that he had said to her in her mind. Then she knew what it was.

"What do you mean, 'Sakura's missing'!"

Naruto forced his eyes shut and turned his head away from her. When he didn't say anything Shizune turned to Kakashi and asked him the same question.

"Sakura was taken by Madara Uchiha." His visible eye sharpened, "We have no idea why."

"What we do know is that Sakura saved Sasuke from Danzou." Sai added.

"Danzou? Why would She need to save him from Danzou?"

"Sasuke and Danzou were fighting. Danzou was just about to win when Sakura intervened."

"I still don't understand why Sasuke was fighting Danzou."

Naruto was still looking away as he said, "He chose revenge. His world is so messed up now."

Kakashi stared down at Naruto. He placed his hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

"We should go to the South gate, Naruto."

"Kakashi-sensei…you'll be early."

"I think I need to be, just this once."

XXX

"This is an odd place for this to be kept in." Sakura flipped the pages to see that the whole thing was filled to the very last page. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Sakura returned to the first page and began to read it to herself.

_We were once again hired to battle the Uchiha clan. The last time I saw Uchiha was just about a week ago. I admire the leader, Madara. He is very strong. This is why I must defeat him. I am the only one who can do so. It may be bad to say, but the others in my clan would have a difficult time with him. So for the sake of my clan I will continue to fight him._

_I do not desire to battle. It is not my nature. Maybe one day I won't have a need to be on the battle field. I hope that day comes soon. My clan shares my thoughts about battle. It is necessary, but unwanted. I can only hope that one day we will be able to not shed blood every day._

"What are you looking at?"

Sakura closed the book out of instinct and turned around. Karin was a few feet away from them, staring at the object in Sakura's hands curiously.

"Well, I would show you, but I don't think you would be able to comprehend anything about medical ninjutsu." Sakura was able to lie and insult Karin at the same time.

Karin huffed, "Like I would even be interested in that." She turned around and went back to her corner.

Sakura looked back at the book in her hands. She didn't reopen it, but looked at Sasuke.

She whispered to him, "I'll keep it. Somehow I don't think either Madara or Karin should know what this is."

Sakura put it in her pack. Sasuke thought this was a good plan. There could be important information in the journal. Something about the secrets of Madara could be in there. There was a lot about the man that Sasuke did not know about.

He needed answers.

XXX

Well there you go, the 2nd chapter in We Are Always Searching! Thank you for reading it!

Please review!!!


	3. Open up your mind

**Okay, so here's chapter 3 of We Are Always Searching! Sorry for the wait, but I hope it was worth it.**

**Please R&R!!! I smile when I read all of the nice reviews I get on my stories! They make me very happy : )**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…I think that would be my first wish if I ever found a magic genie. Oh well…but I do own Takeo! He is my own character!! Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

XXX

The crowd in front of Kakashi and Naruto grew as the hour was almost up. The Shinobi filling in could feel the seriousness of the situation. They were all ready to hear any sort of bad news.

A few minutes later Kakashi knew it was time to tell them.

"The Fourth Great Ninja War has begun."

The crowd before him showed many different faces. Shocked, scared, and angry. But they stopped when they saw Kakashi's hand raise up to silence them.

"Danzou has betrayed the village. We need a new Hokage. The Kazekage told me that they would act as if I was the Hokage. However, if anyone here has any other nominations, you should speak now."

No one in the crowd objected to Kakashi being the Hokage.

He waited a while before he continued, "Now, I will tell you everything I know."

XXX

Sakura blinked as she awoke from sleep. Someone had thrown something at her. She sat up and looked at the object now in her hands.

"A cloak?" She looked up questioningly at the person standing before her. Madara. "What is this for?"

"You could get us spotted while wearing your own cloak. Wear that one." He pointed to the thing in her hands for emphasis. He turned and walked away from her.

She unfolded the cloak in her hands. _At least it doesn't have any red clouds on it_, Sakura thought as she put it on. She then stood up and joined the others.

"We'll be leaving now."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded. Karin didn't stay quiet.

"Where are we going?"

"…To see an old friend."

Madara sucked them all back into his mask. Sakura didn't like the feeling very much; it felt like walls were closing in on her from every angle. Then in an instant the feeling was gone. They were all standing in front of a mountain. The cliffs cut off in sharp, dangerous edges. The trees were dense and the wildlife could be heard all around them.

Sakura turned to Sasuke to judge his reaction. Apparently from the flash of confusion in his eyes he hadn't been here before. Karin hadn't either because she openly wore a mask of confusion.

"why are we here?" Karin questioned.

Madara looked over his shoulder at the girl. "I already told you the reason why." He walked forward and stopped at the foot of the mountain. He produced a hand seal and pushed his palm against the stone. At first nothing happened, but then the rocks started to crumble and give way to a cave entrance. Madara looked back at the group and gestured for them to follow him.

Sasuke went first followed by Sakura and then Karin (a little reluctantly).

A lantern hung on the wall. Madara took it and led the way further into the cave. Sakura wasn't exactly sure how long they had traveled through the tunnels before the walls opened up and light shown through. A man sat in the middle of the opening on a mat; candles lit randomly around the room.

Madara approached the man alone. The man's head rose only when Madara was a few feet away.

Sakura was barely able to make out what he looked like. Though what she could see was that the man looked young, maybe 25. He had long, bark hair that reached past his shoulders. A scar marred his right cheek and went through his face up to his left temple.

"Takeo."

"Madara." He paused. "Why have you come?"

"I need to ask a favor of you. And in return I will have your hand healed."

Takeo glared at him. "No one has been able to do it."

"With me, I have a highly skilled medic nin." He turned and beckoned for Sakura to join him.

She nodded and began to walk over to them. Sasuke slightly flinched as he watched as she passed him. He had no idea what they needed Sakura for and he didn't want to find out.

Madara didn't let the motion escape his notice. He would store that knowledge away for later.

Sakura stood before the two men. "Yes?"

"I need you to look at Takeo's hand and heal it."

"…Why?"

"We need his help."

That was the only answer she got. She was going to ask once more, but she could feel Madara's ominous aura encroaching on her. She turned to Takeo and kneeled before him. She held out her hand.

"Give me your hand."

He complied and gave her his left hand; it was black, wrinkled, and felt frail in her hands.

"What happened?" Sakura questioned.

Takeo levelly stared into her eyes. "…A battle with Senju Hashirama."

Sakura startled and her eyes widened in disbelief. "But…But that would make you-"

"As old as Madara…Well, actually I'm a little older."

"…You look so-"

"Young?" He smiled as he finished her sentence once again.

"What's your-"

"Full name?"

She nodded. _It's like he can read my-_

"Mind?"

Okay, now she was even more confused. She didn't even know that she had stood up before he told her to sit back down. Her eyes still wide with shock, she followed his order.

"How? How can you do that? Just who…what…are you?"

"…My name is Uchiha Takeo."

"Uchiha?" She looked back at Sasuke and then Madara. "Just how many of you are left?" She asked, confused.

Takeo laughed. "It is just us three, I assure you."

She mulled that over in her head. "So, what's you relation to Madara?"

"I am his cousin."

"Why do you look so young?"

He frowned. "Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I think I have a right to know who I'm going to heal."

He stared at her. "I know everything about you; your whole life. I know who you care deeply for and who cares for you." He continued, "they can be gone in a matter of time."

Sakura slightly trembled as she became lost in his eyes. She watched the people she loved die right in front of her and she could do nothing about it. She sucked in a deep breath and altered her chakra flow. She breathed heavily and brought her hands to her face. She controlled her breathing quickly and looked up at Takeo. Sharingan blazing in all of its' glory.

"You're good," he complimented. "Not many people can find the strength they need to escape my genjutsu. I have had many years of perfecting the flow of other's chakra."

"Yeah, well I really didn't want to stay there," she let out shakily.

A smile slowly crept over Takeo's face. He put his hand back into her's. "If you'd be so kind."

She slowly nodded and closed her eyes. Her chakra glowed over his crippled hand. She searched through with her chakra, but she was stuck at a barrier of some kind. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Something's blocking my chakra from healing you."

The room was quiet as they took in her words.

Sasuke couldn't bare Sakura over by the two men. He had no idea what Takeo was capable of. In fact, he didn't really know what Madara was even capable of. He walked over to the pink haired medic.

"I can help."

Sakura turned to see Sasuke standing next to her. He kneeled down and looked at her. She nodded her head and took his hand in hers. She guided both of their hands to rest on Takeo's. The green and blue chakra mixed together as Sakura once again searched through Takeo's hand for the barrier. Once she had found it she felt Sasuke's chakra spike.

Sasuke was lacing his chakra through the barrier. He had never done anything like this before, so he was unsure of what to do exactly. The barrier was set up with ten chakra locks. With his Sharingan, he was able to guide his chakra to undo the individual locks. He could feel the barrier weaken as the first lock was removed. Sakura was also able to feel it, so she quickly worked on healing Takeo's hand.

Takeo started sweating and breathing heavily. His body involuntarily started to pull his hand back, away from the pain. Sakura tightened her grip, making him unable to move his hand anywhere.

The procedure took 30 minutes. When it was over Sasuke and Sakura were both panting. Takeo was doubled over and holding his hand. He stared at in in disbelief as the color began to return to it.

"I cannot…I cannot believe that you were able to do it. No one else has been able to." He said incredulously.

Sakura panted and looked at Sasuke, who was staring back at her.

"No one before probably had the help of a Sharingan user." She explained.

Takeo looked at Sasuke. "No. They did not."

Sasuke didn't like the man staring at him. He felt uneasy at him being related to this man. And maybe he wasn't the only Uchiha out there that he didn't know about. Just like Sakura had said -How many of them are left?

XXX

The meeting ended. Kakashi had given out orders for some squads to go out and meet the neighboring nations. Halfway into the meeting he had received messenger hawks from the other nations. All of them explained that they would be sending teams to the other's as well. This way trust was easier to maintain and manage.

The Shinobi left to fulfill their assigned tasks. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Naruto were the only ones left. Naruto turned towards Kakashi.

"Okay! So, now what do we do?"

"…Naruto, you will stay in the village."

"What? Why?"

"This war is surrounded on protecting you and the hachibi. If you were to go out and Madara got you…then we would have failed. He would be that much closer to getting what he wants."

Naruto clenched his fists and slowly nodded his head. He didn't like the idea one bit, but he had no choice.

"So, what am I supposed to do here?" he asked.

"You will wait for the other nation's teams to arrive and tell them to gather by the Hokage Tower. Once they are all assembled there I will inform them on what they will be doing."

"Okay, got it!" He then took off in the direction of Ichiraku's. the other teams wouldn't reach the village in at least a day. So at the moment he would fill his now empty stomach with some Ramen goodness.

Kakashi sighed and turned his attention back on Yamato and Sai.

"I want you two to go after Danzou. He needs to be found." He paused and then continued, "he is to be brought back here. Then we will have the Jounins vote on his punishment."

"Understood." Sai answered.

"Yes." Yamato stated.

They then both disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi ran a hand through his lopsided hair.

"This isn't going to be pretty."

XXX

Madara stepped up beside Takeo. "We had a deal."

Takeo stared at him. "Did we ever agree on it?"

Madara stiffened at Takeo's response. Sakura was afraid that he wouldn't give Madara whatever it was that he wanted. She was too close to them if they were to start fighting. She wouldn't be able to get away unscathed.

Takeo laughed. "Relax. Very well." He reached into his robe and brought out a small, silver sphere. The candlelight danced across its' surface, making it look as if it glowed in Takeo's hand.

Madara grabbed the sphere gently, as if it would break if dropped. "Thank you," he simply stated and began to walk out of the cave.

"Just out of curiosity, what are you going to use it for? Takeo asked the retreating Madara.

Instead of answering him, Madara addressed the young Shinobi. "We have no other purpose here. Let's go."

Sasuke and Sakura had had enough of Takeo's company and quickly followed Madara out of the room. Karin, who was still waiting at the entrance, latched onto Sasuke's arm as he reached her. Sasuke glared at her and shrugged out of her grasp. Sakura smirked at the girl and followed close behind Sasuke. Karin huffed and left the room as well.

Takeo watched the group retreat and laughed. _Well, this should be amusing._

XXX

**Thank you for reading chapter 3 of We are always Searching! Sorry I haven't updated sooner. I've been busy with my school work. This semester I'm taking creative writing. I have to write a lot of stories in that class, so I haven't had the time to write my fanfics. Those of you who also read Here We Are, the next chapter is almost finished. So that should be up soon! Don't despair!**

**~LazyApples**


	4. A remembered spark

**Ok, people. Here's the newest chapter of We Are Always Searching! I hope you enjoy reading it, because I certainly enjoyed writing it!**

**R&R!!! -They make me all warm and fuzzy inside!**

**Disclaimer:…so who's happy with the new chapter of Naruto??? I was happy that they finally met up!! Yay! Anyway, I don't own Naruto.**

XXX

"So, what is that thing he gave you?" Sakura asked.

"That _thing_ is none of your concern." Madara answered and continued to lead the group out of the cave.

"We just healed that man's hand for that sphere. I want to know what it is."

Madara never answered her. The only thing that could be heard was the clicking of their sandals against the cave floor.

_Thanks a bunch _Sakura thought sarcastically.

The tunnel opened up to the entrance. Sakura breathed in the fresh air. She always hated caves; they were cold, wet, and cramp.

Sasuke looked over at the girl. He watched as she closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. She slowly released it and opened her eyes. Her brilliant orbs shown in the sunlight. As he looked at her eyes he remembered what they had done in the cave. He remembered the feeling of their chakra mixing together. It had felt so…right. There really wasn't any other way he could describe it.

Karin interrupted his thoughts when she asked, "now what?"

Sasuke turned towards Madara, whose back was turned to them.

"I've been having someone scope out what the nation's are doing. He should meet up with me soon."

Sakura scoffed. "Let me guess, another Uchiha."

Sakura didn't know what happened. One second Madara wasn't even facing her, then another second he was holding her in the air by her shoulders.

"I would drop the attitude if I were you."

Sakura glared at the man. "Why? You gonna kill me?"

"Yes."

"What happened to you needing a medic?"

"I could always find someone else."

"Not as good."

They stared at each other for a while. Neither giving even the slightest inch. Sasuke stared at the pair, wishing that Madara would let her go. He put his hand on the hilt of his katana. He would be prepared for anything.

Karin snickered at what she saw. She wished Madara would just finish the pink haired girl off. She was tired of her stealing away all of her Sasuke-kun's attention. She was the one who deserved his affections - not this girl.

Sasuke turned at eh sound of Karin's small laugh. As did Madara. Still watching Karin, Madara slowly let Sakura sink to the ground. He fully turned to face the snickering girl.

"I changed my mind. I won't get rid of the medic…but I will get rid of you."

Karin stopped her fit of laughter and stared at him dumbly. "W-What?"

"Be thankful that I am not going to kill you."

"But…but?"

"I find you to be extremely annoying. You are nothing but a nuisance to me." He paused and then continued, "I have no other plans for you."

Karin's body started to tremble. "How can you do this?" She then turned towards Sasuke and asked, "you won't let him do this to me…will you?" She was practically begging him to help her.

Sasuke did nothing. He only stared at her.

Karin slowly shook her head back and forth and quietly muttered a 'no'.

"You won't be killed."

Karin flinched at the voice that was now right next to her. Madara then sucked her into his mask. Once she was out of sight he turned to Sasuke.

"Go on. I'll meet up with you soon." Then with that he disappeared.

Sakura walked over to the spot where Karin had just been moments before. "What do you think will happen to her?" Don't get her wrong - Sakura absolutely detested Karin. However, no matter how much she hated the girl, Sakura didn't wish that anything horrible would happen to anyone.

Sasuke shrugged. "No idea." He than started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"…Konoha."

XXX

Naruto walked down the white hallways of Konoha's new hospital. The hospital was one of the first buildings that Yamato had rebuilt for the village. It had been a necessity for all of the wounded. It was weird for Naruto to be in a hospital, knowing that Sakura wasn't there as well. The hospital was where he always had to go in order to find his female teammate. They would train or go out for ramen at Ichiraku's. They hadn't done either of those things in a long time - both of them had just been so busy.

He turned at a corner and found the door he wanted. He knocked before he walked in. Shizune was sitting in a chair next to Tsunade. The monitor she was hooked up to beeped sparsely -signaling that she had very little life in her.

"Any difference?"

Shizune looked up at him, shook her head, and then looked back down at Tsunade.

Naruto walked over to the bed. He took one of Tsunade's hands in his own.

"I just want her to…she needs to wake up…soon."

"Anyone here who's free is looking into everything that they can. So far, no one has the slightest clue of how or when she will wake up."

Naruto closed his eyes and his hand around Tsunade's hand tightened. When he did that the monitor hooked up to Tsunade began to beep stronger and steadier.

Shizune was out of her seat in an instant, checking Tsunade's pulse to make sure it wasn't just the machine malfunctioning.

It wasn't.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune yelled out as she say her mentor's eyes flutter open.

Tsunade blinked slowly before turning her head in Naruto's direction. "Naruto…"

"I'm here, Granny! I'm so happy you're alright! Everyone's been so worried about you-"

"Naruto, I don't have much time."

"…What's that supposed to mean?"

"Naruto, Listen."

Naruto closed his mouth and leaned closer towards Tsunade.

"I…I saw him."

XXX

"Where did you bring me?" Karin asked through sniffles.

"To him." Madara pointed at a figure sitting against a tree. The shade covered the person's face, making it impossible to tell who it was.

They both walked closer to the person.

"Well, isn't this a lovely surprise."

Karin could recognize that ugly voice anywhere. "Kabuto?"

Kabuto stood up and face the pair. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Madara stepped forward. "I need you to do something for me."

Kabuto glared at the masked man. "Why would I do anything for an Akatsuki member? A clumsy one at that."

"Ah…that's right. We were never formally introduced were we?"

"No, we were not. I never really had any intention of meeting you in the first place."

"Well you don't have much choice in the matter now, since you are going to be working for me." Madara stared at the half-snake man and continued. "My name is Uchiha Madara."

Kabuto gaped at the man. He then looked over at Karin.

"If you are who you say you are, then why are you here with someone like Karin?"

Karin, too, had been wondering as to why she was brought here. Wasn't Madara going to get rid of her?

"I need both of you in order for my plan to work."

"Which is…?" Kabuto questioned.

"You are both going to work together in order to kill Haruno Sakura."

XXX

Sakura watched Sasuke's back as they made their way through the forest. Inside, she was freaking out about what Sasuke had said to her before they left. _Konoha. _What was he going to do there? He had before that he had no intentions of ever going back to Konoha. So what were him and Madara planning to do once they got there?

"Sasuke?"

"Hn," he replied.

Sakura picked up her speed so she was next to him. "Why are you going to Konoha?"

Sasuke turned his head and glance in her direction. That was the only indication showing that he had heard her question. Sakura stared at him until he turned away. _Well it didn't hurt to ask._

They traveled a bit further before they stopped for a break. They were by a small pond that was next to a cave. Sakura looked at the cave and groaned. _Not another cave._

Sasuke heard her groan and looked at her. He followed the direction of her sight and saw that she was looking at the cave.

"Not a fan of caves?" he asked.

Sakura slightly jumped at the sound of his voice. She still wasn't used to talking to him, so it shocked her when he spoke because he rarely said a word to her. Even though when he spoke to her, she loved hearing the sound of his voice. It was deep and made her want to do anything just so she could hear his voice some more.

"Well, you know the last cave I went into had some creepy guy in it. He was very old and I got a weird feeling about him. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm not a fan of caves." Sakura smiled at him.

Sasuke smirked at her explanation. "I don't think this cave has anything in it."

Sakura shrugged. "You never know."

At that moment the sky began to darken. Sakura looked up as the unpleasantly, gray clouds began to produce rain. She then looked back at Sasuke, who was now halfway to the cave.

"Hey!" Sakura ran to catch up with him. The rain was beginning to come down harder now.

Inside the cave, Sakura shook her head to get rid of the loose droplets of water from her hair. She then said, you'd better be right about there not being anything in this cave."

"Aa."

Sasuke then turned and walked out of the cave. Sakura watched him curiously as he broke smaller braches off of the trees. He came back and threw them on the ground. She looked at him questioningly.

"For a fire."

"Oh…"

Sasuke then set up the wood. He ignited it with one of his fireballs. When he did this Sakura stood behind him, away from the harmful jutsu. She was able to feel a burst of warmth when the flame ignited from Sasuke's mouth. That short burst made her feel so warm that she had stopped shivering.

"How does that feel to you?" Sakura asked him.

He turned around and showed a confused expression. "How does what feel?"

"When you emit a fireball. It felt so warm to me, so I was wondering how it feels to you."

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't really know how to explain it."

Sakura inched closer to him. "Try."

Sasuke sighed and sat down, leaning his back against the cave wall. Sakura mimicked his actions and waited anxiously for his reply.

Sasuke didn't say anything for a while. Sakura was beginning to think that he wouldn't answer her.

"It's like…"

Sakura turned and smiled at what she saw. Sasuke was starring at his hands in deep concentration.

"It's like this spark in the pit of my stomach grows bigger and bigger until it bursts out of me. My entire body gets insanely warm."

Sakura continued to smile at him. "That sounds pretty intense."

Sasuke slowly nodded. "Yeah."

Sakura looked down at her hands. "It makes me so jealous of you, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared at her and silently insisted for her to explain herself.

She gave a small laugh before she said, "you've always been an incredible shin obi…and that made me admire you." She looked at him before she continued. "I know I'm a good shin obi, it's just…I don't know. I just feel so small compare to you."

Sasuke stayed silent, not knowing what he should say to her.

"Why is it that I've trained so hard and have accomplished so much, but still feel like a helpless little girl when I'm with you?" She shook her head. "I know I'm not weak, but I can't help but watch you and feel small."

Sasuke thought hard on what he should say. After a few seconds he finally found something that he could share with her.

"…I felt small compared to Itachi."

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at him. Was he going to talk to her about his past? He had never done that before.

"I…cared for him very much and looked up to him." Sasuke let out a sigh and then turned to look at Sakura. "So…I felt the same way about someone I truly cared about." Sasuke felt awkward about sharing his feelings he had for his brother. He didn't exactly know what to say to her about his past. This was the first time that he had let his guard down since he had left Konoha. Sakura was starting to get through to him.

Sakura gently smiled at him. "That makes us sound a little alike. Caring so much for someone who we look up to."

Again, Sasuke didn't know how to react to her words. He knew that Sakura had loved him when they were younger, but he didn't know if she still _loved_ him now. The care she was talking about now could be friendship, but he couldn't tell.

Eventually he nodded his head.

Outside the rain pounded away. The temperature had gone down, but neither Sasuke not Sakura noticed any change. They were both protected by the warmth of the fire.

XXX

**So, how was it??? Too many cliff hangers for you? Madara wants Sakura dead and needs Karin and Kabuto to do it? Who was Tsunade talking about when she told Naruto that she 'saw him'?**

**Don't worry, everything will make sense…eventually. So you're just going to have to wait and see what happens. **

**Just so you know, I will probably write the next chapter pretty soon because I got so excited about where I want this story to go. **

**Until then…Review!!! **

**~LazyApples**


	5. Lost beloved

**Hi there! I hope you'll enjoy reading the new chapter of We Are Always Searching! I felt very sad writing it…maybe that's because I was listening to Jewel's Foolish Games. I think that just added to it. **

**R&R!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…**

**XXX**

Sakura woke up from a deep sleep to see Sasuke putting more wood into the fire. She rubbed her eyes and looked outside. It was still raining.

_I wonder how long it's been raining. _Sakura turned back to watch Sasuke and the fire. "Sasuke?" She watched as he stopped poking the fire with a stick and look at her. "How long was I asleep?"

He closed his eyes in thought. "About an hour."

"And it's been raining the whole time?"

"Yes."

"Ugh. Is it ever going to stop?" Sakura thought aloud.

"The clouds keep getting darker." Sasuke answered.

"What'll we do until it stops…oh!" Sakura put her pack on her lap and opened it. Inside she found the journal that she had been hiding. "We can read some more entries."

Sasuke walked over to her and sat down. He had almost forgotten about the journal.

Sakura flipped the book open. "I still think it's weird that the First Hokage's journal was in that place. Where were we anyway?"

"In an underground Uchiha hideout."

"Oh." Sakura angled the journal so Sasuke could also see it.

_Ever since the village was founded, I have had a feeling of contentment. I am glad that the Senju and Uchiha have to put away their differenced in order to live together in harmony. Even thought the Uchiha have built a compound on the village boarder, they are working well with the others._

_Everyone who is now a part of Konohagakure is doing everything that they can in order to build their new home. With the use of my wood style ninjutsu, the village is very close to being finished._

_The leadership over Konohagakure has yet to be decided. The candidates are myself and Uchiha Madara. _

_We are truly rivals. Even though we agree to live peacefully together, the two of us cannot seem to stop competing with each other. I do not know how I feel about that. I know I should not want to fight with Madara, but there is something in me that does not…no, cannot fully trust him. His eyes are cold and look to be calculating some sort of plan. I cannot let my guard down around him. If I do, it may be the end of me._

_xxx_

_The First Hokage of Konohagakure has been decided. I am overcome with joy that the villagers have selected me over Madara to lead them._

_Speaking of Madara, I haven't seen him since the decision. I know he is angry, but I expected him to rise above the decision and be himself. He is a better man than just sulking around._

_I don't know what to really think about him. He seems like a very selfish person to sulk when something doesn't go his way. Then again the entire human race is selfish in that respect._

_I wish I knew what that man was thinking. All that I know right now is that I hope Madara doesn't do anything idiotic._

_xxx_

_I have gathered several creatures tat have an enormous amount of chakra. I am not entirely sure of their capabilities in battle. What I have seen however, proves them to be very powerful. Perhaps they are some of the most powerful beings of this age._

_Ever since the other nations have heard that I have obtained them, there has been more and more complaints. I fear that their desire to have the beasts n their possession will be the catalyst to a possible war. To avoid this I am thinking about giving each of the nations one of the beasts. I have been counseling with others, but some of them do not want to give away such an enormous amount of chakra. They believe that when the time comes for a war, Konoha will be unstoppable. In a way, they are right. But, I believe we should do everything in out power to prevent a break out of war. I want peace in the world and it seems hard to obtain when the power scale is so uneven. Therefore, I stand by my decision to give the nations each a tailed beast._

_xxx_

_Madara has been acting quite strange recently. He seems to be becoming more desperate somehow. I am thinking it has something to do with him becoming blind. He has not told me this as fact, but I can see the light slowly leaving his eyes. The only cause that I can think of is his Sharingan. Nothing was wrong with his before, but now he is different. The more he uses the Sharingan, the more the light leaves his eyes._

_I have no clue how to stop this. I have researched into ocular problems, but so far nothing sounds like Madara's case._

_I have no idea how he is going to get out of this predicament, but he better if he wants to continue to be the ninja that he is. _

_xxx_

_Madara's done it now. His eyesight if fine - he even has a brand new Sharingan that has been given new light. But all of this came of a big price. I had no idea that Madara was capable of taking his own brother's eyes._

_I do not know that I cant take his word on the matter. Madara says that his brother consented to let him take his eyes. When I asked Izuna about his side of the story, he did not reply. The only thing that he did was nod his head once and then leave, saying he needed his rest. The whole situation seems a bit to unreal to me. Something is wrong and I am not able to know what it is._

_xxx_

_Madara is gone. He is no longer a member of Konohagakure. He has betrayed the village._

_He came back in search of a fight with myself. Even though I hand no desire to battle him, I fought him anyway. The battle was grueling, but I was able to come out of it victoriously._

_The fight stretched on. Both of us were dealing out best jutsu. What I really had no idea was coming was the nin tailed fox. Madara had somehow come into possession of the demon, and was able to control it. I have never seen anyone control a beast the way Madara had. Its' power was incredible, and paired with Madara, I am surprised that I wasn't the one who was gone._

_The most surprising thing about the battle, however, was knowing that I would never see Madara again._

_xxx_

Sakura read the journal entries in astonishment. Sasuke already knew what he had just read; he had heard it from Madara himself.

Sakura flipped through the rest of the journal entries - seeing if there were anymore with information about the Uchiha clan.

Nothing. The rest of the journal entries were about life n the village and then Hashirama had stopped writing because of the start of the First Great Ninja War.

"That can't be it," Sakura said, confused. She flipped through the journal once more. "Madara's alive. How is he still alive? The first Hokage said he didn't see him after his battle. He made it sound like he was dead."

"…He must've believed him to be dead."

Sakura shook her head in aggravation. "The journal didn't even tell us anything about Madara's power."

Sasuke was also aggravated about that. He had been hoping that he would learn more about Madara.

Sakura lowered her tone as she said, "…I just don't understand the eye thing. How could he take his brother's eyes?"

Involuntarily, Sasuke glared at her. Her question had reminded him of what Itachi had been pretending to do when they were fighting. Sasuke, too, couldn't believe that anyone would want to take their brothers' eyes away.

Sakura saw him glare and shrunk away from it. The look he was giving her scared her and she wasn't sure why he was so angry.

Sasuke turned away from her, but continued ot glare.

Sakura turned her head, not wanting to see him when he was like this, and looked towards the entrance of the cave. "It stopped raining."

XXX

"Him?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Tsunade nodded. "I saw…Jiraiya."

Everything around Naruto seemed to go silent. Tsunade's words repeating in his head. He had not expected any news about his late sensei to come out of Tsunade's mouth.

"What…what?" Naruto couldn't seem to form complete sentences. Everything inside of his head was buzzing.

"I saw…Jiraiya, you idiot," Tsunade breathed out. She then had a coughing fit. She settled down after a few seconds and continued. "He wanted me…to tell you something…very important."

Naruto leaned in to hear what she was supposed to tell him.

"He said…Naruto…Do not trust the…mind…er." Her sentence was stretched out and became softer with every word she spoke.

"I don't understand. What's a mind-er?"

Tsunade slowly shook her head. "What I said…wasn't right. Look out…for the mind…"

The monitor went flat and kept at a constant buzz.

Shizune looked at the machine, horrified. She then turned to Tsunade and shook her shoulders. "Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama, wake up!"

Shizune got no response from the slug queen. She quickly placed her hands over Tsunade's chest and started to pour her chakra into her. Tears fell down her face as she put every ounce of herself into her chakra that was flowing throughout Tsunade's body.

But, nothing worked.

Naruto stared down with teary, wide eyes. "No! this isn't supposed to happen!" He cried out as he watched Shizune slowly pull her hands away. "None of this was supposed to happen!"

Tears continued to roll down Shizune's face. She listened to what Naruto had said and completely agreed with him. Why was this happening?

Naruto wiped his face. "Kakashi-sensei needs to know what happened."

"…Yes."

XXX

Sakura was lost in thought behind Sasuke, so she didn't notice his defensive position until she almost walked right into him.

"Why did you stop?"

Sasuke didn't answer her, so she had to look around him to see what was going on.

"Katsuyu?"

"Sakura-san."

"What's going on? Why are you here?"

"I bring news of Lady Tsunade."

Sakura stepped out from behind Sasuke. "What is it? How is she?" Concern apparent in her voice.

"…She is gone."

Sakura's back stiffened and she was unable to move. "What?"

"Tsunade-sama passed on not too long ago. Her name disappeared from the summons contract. I came to tell you that you are now the top summoner. I am sorry it had to be this way."

Sasuke couldn't see Sakura's face, but her could picture what it looked like. He could compare it to knowing how he felt when he had learned about Itachi. He had been crushed.

He could see her shoulders start to shake, followed by her whole body. It seemed that she was finally able to move, so she walked over to a nearby tree and sat down with her back against it. She then brought her knees up and put her head down. As she cried she never made a noise, unlike when she cried as she was younger.

Sasuke didn't know what to do, so he just stood rooted in his spot. He watched as Sakura cried. Neither him, nor Katsuyu advanced on her, giving her space for the time being.

Inside Sakura's head she was numb. She wasn't exactly thinking about anything in particular. She just kept seeing flashes of her and Tsunade together. They had grown so close that Sakura looked up to her just as a daughter would look up to her mother. There was so much more that she wanted to do with Tsunade, so much she wanted to tell her. And now, she would never get the chance to do those things.

Sasuke didn't exactly know how much time had passed from the time that Sakura learned of the death of her teacher. But, it had been a while.

When Sakura finally raised her head, Sasuke could see her puffy, red eyes. The tears were gone and her lip wasn't quivering anymore. She looked somewhat distant to him.

She slowly stood up and looked at Sasuke. "Let's go." All she wanted to do right now was go to Konoha. She wanted to go back home.

XXX

The only light that was in the room was a small burning candle. If he decided to put it out he would be in absolute darkness.

Where was he?

"So you're finally awake?"

He turned in the direction of the voice. He couldn't see who it was until they had stepped into the light of the candle.

"What are you doing here, Zetsu?" Wherever _here _was_._

"I was sent to check on you. We wanted to make sure that you were alright."

"…Where am I?…Why am I here?"

"Madara thought that he might need you in the future in order to carry out his plans. It's that simple."

"I'm sure he's powerful enough to do what he wants."

Zetsu shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe you'll serve your purpose very soon."

"…I doubt it."

Zetsu smirked and said, "still, you never know."

He watched as Zetsu disappeared into the floor. Once again, he was left alone in the total darkness. Only his thoughts accompanied him.

XXX

**Okay, so there's chapter 5! I hoped you enjoyed reading it!**

**I'm sorry if it seemed very slow, but I needed to write this chapter before I did anything else with the story line. I promise next chapter will be packed with events. **

**I'm sorry that I killed Tsunade, please forgive me! **

**Anyway, Please Review! I'm thinking after I get at least 22 reviews I'll update again! Or maybe 20, I don't know.**

**~LazyApples**


	6. Unimaginable Sorrow

**So, I was finally able to finish chapter 6! I pretty much hit a wall, but then once I got over the wall it was like BAM!**

**Sakura's Indecision: Thank you for your criticism. When I wrote this chapter I was like: I can do this, I can do this! So don't worry, I'm not discouraged by your review at all, it's more like I found it a challenge I had to conquer. Please keep writing constructive reviews - they help a lot!**

**Anyway, I'll let you all in on a little secret, so come closer. Closer. Okay, that's good! Haha. So I'm in the middle of writing another fanfic for Itachi. I was finished with the third chapter before I wrote this chapter of We Are Always Searching. So, I think that story helped me grow as a writer. Anyway, just so you know, I won't post the Itachi fanfic until I'm finished with it. I want to make it perfect and I want to publish it on a regular basis. I'm having my friend read it, so she will help me out. But, I have to tell you that I feel like crying when I write it. It's so sad!! T_T**

**So, yeah. Be on the look out for that one!**

**RxR!!! They keep me going! : )**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, Naruto is not mine…does wishing count?**

xxx

Sakura ran through the forest as fast as she could. She felt the need to get back to her home. It was like some invisible string had latched onto her and was pulling her forward. All that she could think about was how she wasn't with Tsunade when she passed away. The more she thought about it, the more she began blaming her situation on someone.

And that someone was Sasuke.

_Why did he have to get into so much trouble? If he had just stayed at the village, then I wouldn't have gone away from Konoha in the first place! _Sakura's fists clenched as she heard Sasuke close behind her. _Why do I have to care about him so much? Why can't I just let him go?_

Sasuke stared at the pink haired girl. He did not know how to comfort her. Part of him wished he did know how. The other, more dominant part of him, didn't want to. Sasuke felt that she should learn how it felt to be hurt; just as he had.

"We're close." Sasuke broke the silence.

Sakura nodded her head. She wasn't very confident in her voice at the moment. Her thoughts were in so much turmoil.

xxx

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto jumped at his name. He had been out of it for a while now. Ever since Tsunade's death, he had been thinking about Jiraiya. He had been thinking about Tsunade too, and everything they've been through. It's just that he was confused about what his sensei had wanted him to know. What on earth was a mind-er?

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto shook his head and stood up from the bench he had been sitting at. He then looked down at a smaller version of Katsuyu.

"Katsuyu? What are you doing here?"

"I came here to tell you that I have already informed Sakura-san about Tsunade-sama."

Naruto winced at her words_. Sakura-chan had to find out about Granny Tsunade away from home. That must have been so awful for her._

Katsuyu continued, "I also came to tell you that Sakura-san and Sasuke-san are on their way to Konoha."

Naruto could feel his eyes widen. "They're coming…now?"

"Yes."

Naruto continued to stare wide eyed at the slug. He could hardly believe it. He would finally get to see Sasuke, after all this time! He could finally knock some sense into him and bring him home. "Is there any way to know when they'll be here?"

Katsuyu thought for a moment. "I could split myself and stay with you and be with Sakura-san. Then, I could communicate their arrival to you."

Naruto grinned. "That sounds good to me."

Their family had been split up for far too long and it was about time that it was put back together.

Katsuyu split herself in two. One said, "I'll keep in touch," and disappeared.

Naruto looked down at his hand and then clenched it into a fist. "I'm bringing you back."

xxx

"What?" Karin stared in utter disbelief at Madara. Did he just say what she thought he said? She hoped so because this was a plan that could let her have Sasuke all for herself.

Kabuto stared blankly at Madara. He could care less about the girl, so why should he kill her? "What's in it for me?"

Madara shrugged. "Who knows?"

Kabuto didn't trust the man. It was painfully obvious that he had some ulterior motive. Kabuto only cared about himself, so if Madara was asking him to do something that gave him nothing in return, then forget about it. "Well, if I get nothing in return, then why would I-"

"Who said anything about you not getting something in return? All I said was 'who knows' what you'll get."

Kabuto glared at the masked man. "What are you saying?"

"Do you know who the girl is traveling with?"

"…No."

"A certain Uchiha Sasuke."

Kabuto's mind whirled. This was it. This was when he would get his revenge on the Uchiha brat. He should never have killed Orochimaru-sama in the first place.

His lips curved upward into a sinister smile. "Interesting."

Karin watched Kabuto and a shiver ran up her spine. _He's so creepy! Why do I have to work with him?_

"I see that both of you are willing to take on my request." Madara paused to see if one of them would oppose him. "I'll leave it to you then."

Madara disappeared, leaving the two in the forest alone. Karin was lost in her fantasies about her and Sasuke. Kabuto was savoring the thought of having Sasuke's blood draining from his body and spilling onto the ground.

xxx

Katsuyu poofed into Sakura's pack. She had concealed her chakra, so neither Sakura nor Sasuke would be able to know she was there. She slowly crept out and saw that Sasuke wasn't behind Sakura. So, she would be able to stay there and see when they were near Konoha.

Sakura jumped from tree to tree, not even noticing the weight change in her pack. She was still thinking about her master. Did she have any last words? Did she say anything about her? Sakura wanted to know. But, then again, she didn't want to know. She already regretted not being with Tsunade when she died. What if what Tsunade-sama had said made Sakura never forgive herself for the rest of her life?

Sakura shook her head. _I shouldn't think like that. _Her heart wasn't completely convinced with her thought. The truth was that Sakura didn't know what she could believe in anymore.

Sasuke saw Konoha ahead. It was still under construction, so the guard around it wasn't very good. It was probably the only reason they could get so close to the village and not be sensed at all. He stopped on a branch and Sakura stopped next to him.

She looked at the village and she felt her heart constrict at the sight. She was finally home after so long.

Katsuyu looked around Sakura and saw that they had arrived.

xxx

"They are here."

Naruto's mind went blank. Well, he thought it went blank, but maybe there was so much going on inside his head that he wasn't able to pick out any thought in particular.

He bit down on his lower lip. _I need to concentrate!_

"Thanks, Katsuyu."

He then sat down on the ground. While staying completely still, he was able to build up his sage chakra. He weaved through all of the chakra signatures in the village before he found theirs on the outskirts of the village.

_Found you!_

_xxx _

Sasuke jumped to the ground - Sakura followed him. He started to move towards the village, but was stopped by Sakura, who had grabbed his arm.

"Sasuke…what are you planning to do once you're in Konoha?"

"Destroy it," he said with his back turned to her.

Sakura was so shocked. Her grip on Sasuke's arm loosened and he tugged it away from her.

"W-Why?"

He turned around and glared at her. He was overwhelmed by his anger at the village. They had stolen his brother, family, and his own life away from him. The village had no right to do any of that. "It destroyed me."

Sakura's eyes widened. "I…I don't understand."

"No. You can't even imagine." Sasuke turned back around and started to head towards Konoha.

Sakura had to do something. He was going to destroy her home. His home.

"Don't do this, Sasuke!" Her voice shook. She was scared that she wouldn't be able to stop his plan.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. However, he remained facing forward.

Sakura saw her opportunity. "Don't do this! You'll only regret it if you do anything!" She sucked in a breath. "This is your home, Sasuke."

Sasuke whirled around and grabbed both of her shoulders. He tightened his grip and shook her hard. His Sharingan blazing with fury. "That place is _not_ my home! It's Hell!"

Sakura was unable to look away from his eyes. She was so terrified. This wasn't Sasuke. It couldn't be - she didn't want it to be.

"Sasuke!"

The pair stopped when they heard Sasuke's name. Sasuke slightly turned his head and saw Naruto behind him. His eyes were different from the last time they had met. It wasn't the Nine Tailed Fox, so Sasuke didn't know what it was.

Naruto looked at his best friend. He still had Sakura in his grasp. Anger bubbled up inside of him at the sight. "Let her go, Sasuke!"

Sasuke stared at the blonde for a while. The three stood in silence - no one knew what to do. Slowly, Sasuke let go of Sakura. She stared at him, frightened. She then took a step in Naruto's direction. She waited to see if Sasuke would do anything to her. He didn't.

Naruto watched as Sakura ran in his direction. She was biting her lip and looked like she was about to cry. He opened his arms and she ran into them.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Sakura let out a strangled sob into Naruto's shoulder. Naruto hugged her tight and kept his eyes on Sasuke at the same time.

"It's alright. Everything's going to be fine, Sakura-chan."

"Naruto…" she whispered out. He always had a way of making her feel safe. He had always protected her.

Slowly, she let go of him and faced Sasuke. The sight she saw nearly broke her heart. From a distance, she saw a sad, lonely boy in Sasuke's eyes. His posture told a different story, though. He stood there, firm and strong, looking like he was ready to fight. Ready to kill. He was so lost in revenge, it scared her.

_We need to get him back to us, _she thought.

Naruto stared at the broken Uchiha. "What are you doing, Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked. "You wouldn't be able to understand."

Naruto slowly blinked. Taking his time, he thought of what he should say next. "What's happened to you? I know you're still in there, Sasuke. Come back."

Sasuke scoffed. "There's nothing for me to come back to."

"What about Kakashi-sensei? What about Sakura-chan?" He paused. "What about me?" His eyes saddened and he looked down at the ground. He took in a shaky breath and looked back at Sasuke.

"…Nothing," Sasuke said, coldly.

Silence lingered on the air as what Sasuke said sunk into Naruto's head. He was unable to control himself as he cried out and ran at Sasuke. Sasuke ran at the fast, approaching Naruto.

Naruto threw a punch, but Sasuke dodged by pulling his head to the side. Even though he dodged, Sasuke was thrown to the side. Naruto had used a Frog Kata.

Sasuke was confused. _Didn't I dodge that?_

Seeing as he was distracted, Naruto took this opportunity to jump on Sasuke. The two crashed to the ground. Naruto squared a punch at Sasuke's jaw.

Sasuke's head snapped to the right. He spit out blood and glared up at Naruto. "Why don't you ever give it up!?"

Naruto gripped the front of Sasuke's shirt with both of his hands. "Because that's what best friends do, Sasuke!"

"You're not my best friend! I don't have friends anymore! I don't want them!" Sasuke shouted.

Naruto growled. "What's wrong with you!?"

Sasuke slowly started to laugh.

Naruto stared down at him, frightened. "Snap out of it!"

"No!" Sasuke ceased his laughing. "No! You don't understand! None of you understand!"

"What don't we understand?"

"Me!"

The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Naruto's eyes pricked at the sight of Sasuke.

"Help me understand." His voice was so low that it was almost a whisper.

Sasuke glared at him. In one great push he was able to get Naruto off of him. He jumped away, creating distance between the two.

"Understand this - I will destroy Konoha! I will burn that place to the ground!" Sasuke looked from Naruto to Sakura and then back to Naruto. Why couldn't these people just let him have his revenge? Why couldn't they leave him alone?

Naruto stared in disbelief at him. "Why…why, Sasuke!?"

"Because it took everything away from me!" Sasuke shouted in anger. Flashes of his family went through his mind.

"What did it take away, Sasuke?" Naruto began to walk slowly towards Sasuke. He had detracted his sage mode, so Sasuke was able to see the clear cerulean blue of his eyes.

"Everything! Everyone!" Sasuke's voice began to shake. More and more memories flooded into Sasuke's mind.

"Who? Who'd they take?" Naruto was so close to Sasuke now. Just a few more feet to go.

Sasuke made a strangled noise. "Everyone! My clan…my parents…Itachi…They're all gone!" His head was now overflowing with his memories. Memories that he loved, memories that he hated - they were all there, torturing him, coaxing him into hysterics.

Naruto was within two feet of him when Sasuke fell to his knees. He watched as Sasuke clutched his head with his hands and screamed, "get out of my head!" Tears fell down his face as he tried to fight off his emotions. His past. He continued to sob when nothing he did worked.

_Why can't they stop?_

Sakura watched as Sasuke tried to fight off his enemy - himself. She didn't know which one would win. All she knew was that he needed someone. Anyone.

She made her way to him and Naruto. Naruto saw her, but did nothing to stop her as she went to her knees and inched towards Sasuke. She began to cry when Sasuke let out another wale of pain.

Tentatively, she moved her hand and rested it on his shoulder. Sasuke's body stiffened and instinctively moved away. He lifted his head to see who had intruded in his space.

_Sakura._

Sasuke's eyes shone with hurt and confusion. With regret and horror.

They shone with vulnerability.

Sakura's heart pulled. She had never wanted to see Sasuke this way.

She never wanted to see him so hurt.

Once more, she reached out towards Sasuke. His body stiffened again, but this time he didn't pull away. She moved closer and slowly put her arm around his shoulder. She pulled him to her and tightly hugged him. Putting her head on top of his, she continued to cry with him. His body shook with a sob and one of his hands grabbed her upper arm. They sat there, holding onto each other.

Naruto fell to the ground and rested his hands behind his back. He sat there and stared at his teammates. He then looked up at the sky and tears fell down his face. He laid his arm across both of his eyes and silently cried. _It's over._

Rain clouds began to cover the sky once more, making darkness crawl over the group.

None of them noticed this. They were all too busy with their own storms of emotion.

xxx

**T_T**

**How...emotional…**

**Please Review!!!**

**So, I can't write fighting. Believe me, I've tried and failed. I wanted to focus on the emotional aspect of the encounter instead of the physical one anyway. I hope it turned out okay. I liked it : )**

**Okay, so on a more happier note…who's seen the newer old spice for men commercials??? They are so funny!!! The first time I saw it, my family and I were watching the Wolfman at the movies. My mom was sitting next to my dad. When the commercial came on it was like: Look at your man, now look back at me, look at your man, now back at me. Sadly, he is not me. My mom was looking back and forth between my dad and the screen and just cracked up!!! I burst out laughing : )**

**Anyway, back to Naruto. I'm curious as to how you started reading or watching it? I'll go first: I saw a commercial for it on TV. It was the one where Sasuke went in front of Sakura when she was protecting Tazuna. I was all like: I want to watch that! They look so cute together!! So, yeah. I was a sasusaku fan before I even started to like it! ; )**

**Anyhoo, I'll try and update as soon as I can! I hope you liked reading this chapter for now though!**

**~LazyApples**


	7. Home is a beautiful thing

**Okay, people I owe you all a huge apology! I didn't mean to wait this long to update!**

**Anyway, this isn't really a chapter…no wait, it is! It's just a bit shorter than normal.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did I would've made Sasuke come back already!**

xxx

Kakashi was looking over some papers in his office. His pen scribbled down his signature at the bottom for the tenth time. He looked down at his name.

_How strange._

He still wasn't used to the idea of himself becoming the new Hokage. The meeting with the Fire Lord for his position as Hokage would be later that night, so he supposed that he had to be ready to take on the title. If he wasn't, then the war against Madara would only end badly. The nations all had to work together if their goal was to be completed.

Just then the door burst open and Naruto ran in with the happiest expression that he had worn in a long time. He ran right up to Kakashi's desk and slammed both of his hands on the surface, shaking the precariously stacked piles of books and papers.

"Kakashi-sensei! You won't believe it!"

He sighed. "What is it, Naruto? New flavor of ramen?"

"No, no! Something so much better!"

_Better than ramen?_ Kakashi thought. Then the sound of footsteps through his door caught his attention. He vigilantly watched the door and when Sakura walked in he was ecstatic, but confused.

Then Sasuke walked into the room.

The pen Kakashi had been holding now dropped out of his hand and hit the top of the desk with a clack. Kakashi's eyes widened and he was speechless. He slowly stood up and stared at the raven haired teen.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke glanced up at his former teacher and then lowered his gaze to the ground. The act was very unlike him, but he didn't know how to face Kakashi. He didn't know if he even could.

The silence stretched on as Kakashi continued to soak in the presence of his former student. When Sasuke had left all those years ago he didn't know what to think. He had thought it was his fault that he wasn't able to prevent Naruto and Sakura from feeling the immense amount of pain and emptiness that scarred them during Sasuke's absence.

Now that he was staring at the troubled teen all these memories crashed into his mind. They almost made him think that Sasuke was a dream; He couldn't possibly be back in Konoha after that much time.

But, he was. He stood there unsure of himself in the middle of the office.

Sasuke didn't know if he would be able to handle the silence for much longer. What was Kakashi thinking? Would he accept him back after everything that happened? Where would he go if he was pushed away?

Sasuke just wanted Kakashi to say something, anything that would put him out of his misery. _Anything._

Kakashi stared at Sasuke for a few more seconds. The anguish of the young man was evident on his features. Kakashi wanted to know what he was thinking; What was running through his mind at that moment. He could only guess that Sasuke was waiting for a sign from him about his future in the village and, more importantly, his place with his friends.

The visible eye slightly twinkled with happiness and acceptance. "Welcome home, Sasuke."

Sasuke was shocked. His mouth slightly parted and he looked at Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. He couldn't believe that after all this time they were all willing to forgive him and take him back with open arms.

It all felt too good to be true.

"I…" His voice left him as he tried to say something.

Kakashi watched patiently as Sasuke searched for words. When nothing came out, he made his way around the desk and put his hand on Sasuke. As soon as he grabbed the boy's shoulder, Kakashi felt how worn out and exhausted Sasuke was from all those years of pain and suffering.

"Go get some rest, Sasuke."

Sasuke could only nod his head before turning to walk out of the office. Before he made it to the door, Kakashi ordered Naruto to go with him. Sakura was to stay behind and give him a full report.

"But, why do I have to stay now?" she complained. "Couldn't we do this tomorrow?"

"No. I need to know what you did when you were with Sasuke and Madara. What you tell me might be a crucial factor in deciding the way this war is going to go."

Sakura sighed reluctantly and watched as Naruto and Sasuke left the office. Strangely, this made her feel just like a genin again. She remembered how both of them were always in front of her, how they had always protected her. It also reminded her of when they left. She was all alone in the village; She had barely seen Kakashi for those years.

There had been so much that happened. And with all of it she still felt small compared to her two teammates.

As the door shut behind Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura snapped out of her thoughts.

_Get a grip, Sakura. You're not the helpless girl you used to be - you are a strong, independent woman! So get out of the past…_She tried to convince herself, but even she heard the doubt in her own heart. She hated that feeling so much. She wanted nothing more than to throw it away or cast it aside.

But she knew that she would never fully be able to be rid of the scared little girl inside of her.

"Sakura?"

Kakashi's voice startled her. She turned towards him and gave him a questioning expression.

"What?" She had honestly forgotten all about the report.

Kakashi looked at his former student incredulously. He thought it was odd for her to space out like that, usually that was Naruto's job. But then again, she and Naruto had finally gotten Sasuke to return to the village; Her head was probably sinning like crazy. "The report?"

"Oh! Right," she exclaimed.

For the next hour or so Sakura and Kakashi went over everything that happened to her. How she went to the cramped box room, the First Hokage's journal, healing the mind reader, Takeo, how Karin had gotten kicked off the team, and finding out Tsunade had passed away.

When Sakura brought up her late teacher a wave of immense grief washed over her. In a solemn voice she said, "I want to see her." She lowered her gaze so that she was now staring at her hands. For some reason they looked foreign to her - like they weren't even meant to be there. She couldn't understand the reason behind thinking that so she started to get a little panicked. She could feel a trickle of sweat travel down the back of her neck. Everything just seemed out of place and she didn't belong there.

But, where did she belong? At that moment nothing made sense.

Kakashi stayed silent as he remembered what it was like to lose his teacher and closest friends. At the time it felt as though his whole world had been ripped apart at the seams and would never be sewn back together. At present the memory of losing them made his heart wrench.

"Yes, you can see her. They are still looking for the reason of her…passing."

Sakura nodded and remained silent. The world around her still seemed a bit distorted.

Kakashi leaned back in his chair and studied her some more. She looked exhausted and in need of some time to herself.

"That's enough for now. You can go home, Sakura."

She looked up, startled at his dismissal. The order shook her out of her own chaos. "But, don't you need a full report?"

"I do, but you need rest. You just got back to the village…Go home, Sakura," he said, but this time ordering her to go.

She opened her mouth to protest - to say that she was fine, but thought better of it. She was pretty worn out and had missed her bed. Suddenly she was aware of the weight of everything that happened draping over her shoulders. She was very, very tired.

"Okay." She got out of her chair and walked out the door, but not before she let out a "thank you" to Kakashi.

Kakashi stared at the now closed door and thought about her last words. So much has happened with team 7 and all he had really done was guide them through it all.

"No, Sakura. Thank you."

xxx

Sasuke and Naruto walked down the village streets. No one was out that late, so Sasuke was able to observe the village without being gawked at. Although, he was pretty sure that Naruto had been gawking at him ever since they left the office. He turned his head to see if his theory was true: It was. Naruto's cerulean eyes were slightly larger and focused directly on Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyebrow involuntarily twitched. "What?"

Naruto shook his head and put his hands behind his head. "N-Nothing!"

Sasuke continued to watch the blonde. He wore a weird expression that was somewhere between happy and sad. Sasuke didn't know how that could even be possible. "What is it?" he repeated.

"I said nothing! Sheesh." Naruto looked at Sasuke who had an intense glare set in his eyes. Naruto found himself wavering under the gaze. "Um…I just don't know how to say this, but…it's weird having you back home."

Sasuke stopped walking. Naruto noticed this and turned back to look at him. Sasuke had a face of stone, but in his eyes Naruto was able to see a guarded expression.

Naruto was confused. "What-"

"It's weird?" Sasuke coldly spat out. He didn't understand what Naruto had said. Just hours before his teammates told him they wanted him home. Then why is it so weird that he was back?

Naruto's hands slowly dropped to his sides. He suddenly realized how what he said had sounded. His eyes widened in horror. "No!" he said loudly.

Sasuke glared at the blonde, not giving him any reaction.

Naruto continued, "no, Sasuke. It's not weird to have you back. I'm so happy that you're finally home where you belong." He paused and took a deep breath. "It's just that…we've waited so long to have you back and now that you are…it seems surreal. It feels like a dream…and I never want to wake up. I know Sakura-chan feels the same way. And Kakashi-sensei, too."

Sasuke didn't know what to think. They both stood there in silence and soaked it all in. _So…they still want me._

There was a short pause before Naruto said, "Sasuke, we want you here with us. So you better not leave again."

Sasuke's eyes slightly widened at the blondes words. It was as if Naruto knew how he had felt. His thoughts were all muddled at this point.

Naruto smiled and turned around. He started walking, but when he realized that Sasuke wasn't following him he turned around. "Come on, we're going home. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Sasuke slowly caught up with Naruto. He was so wrapped up in what Naruto told him.

There was this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He vaguely remembered that he had felt this way before when he was younger. Ever since he left to go to Orochimaru any feeling other than hatred and loneliness had abandoned him.

Now, finding himself in the presence of his teammates, he was starting to feel himself slowly begin to remember what it means to belong. It was weird to feel, but he also kind of liked it.

Of course, he would never admit that out loud.

xxx

**I am so sorry T_T**

**I didn't mean to not update this long, but everything just got carried away. I've been busy with track and school and finals and basketball! I feel so stressed and overwhelmed! **

**But, I was able to complete somewhat of a chapter for We Are always searching.**

**Please review = )**

**PS so, summer's starting and I will be able to write more often, so hopefully you won't have to wait so long for the next update! =)**

**PPS next chapter will be more exciting, I promise.**

**~LazyApples**


	8. Realizing those feelings

**Okay, so here's chapter 8!**

**Summer has officially started, so I was able to get this chapter out super early! It make me so excited to finally be free to write this story1 =D**

**Please remember to review when you finish reading! I appreciate all of your guys' impute!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto…it's that simple people.**

xxx

"Sakura-chan!" _Bang, bang_. "Sakura-chan! Time to wake up!"

Sakura groaned as she heard Naruto banging on her front door. She rolled over in bed and snuck a look at the clock on the bedside table.

7:00 a.m.

"Urgh," she mumbled out and pushed the covers off of her. She made her way over to the closet and pulled out her leisure outfit consisting of a dark skirt, red top, and a beige under t-shirt. She threw it on her bed and picked up her brush. She pulled it through her hair a few times. _The beauty of short hair._

She went over to her bead and took her sleeping shirt off and started to pull on the beige undershirt. Just then her door opened and Naruto burst in while Sasuke stayed in the doorway.

"Sakura-chan! Time to…" He finally took in the state that his pink haired teammate was in.

"What the hell!" She screamed out and yanked the shirt down as fast as she could.

Naruto's eyes widened and a small blush crept over his cheeks. Sasuke stood shocked in his spot, his eyes glued on Sakura until Naruto Started blabbering. That pulled him out of his stupor.

"I-I didn't mean to…"

Sakura picked up her boot and threw it full power at Naruto's face. His head snapped backwards and he tumbled to the ground. Sasuke smirked but stopped when he saw Naruto running at top speed towards him. Sakura was holding up her other boot and running after him. He quickly flattened himself against the wall and watched as the two zoomed past him.

Naruto ran through the door and into the middle of the street. Sakura, furious, threw the other boot at him.

"First you barge into my room and watch me change, and now you break down my door! Did it ever occur to you to open it!"

"You were coming at me too fast! I had no time to open it!" His voice sounded funny because he was holding his injured nose.

"Well, you're going to pay the costs for the repairs." She crossed her arms over her chest, by then some of her anger had dissipated. "Why are you here anyway?"

"We were told to get you before going to the Hokage's office," Sasuke said from behind her. She started and turned around. She had forgotten that he came with Naruto; He was so quiet.

"Oh." She had a thoughtful expression on her face. _Probably wants to hear the end of the report. _She then turned around to face Naruto again. "That still doesn't explain why you suddenly barged into my bedroom."

"I thought that you didn't hear me knock, so I got your spare key and came in. Why didn't you answer the door anyway?" he asked accusingly.

"I didn't know you knew where my spare key was," she said and dodged answering his question. She didn't fully understand why she hadn't opened the door either. It was probably just because she was too tired. "I'm gonna have to hide it somewhere else."

Sakura turned away from Naruto as he shouted out that he would just find it again, and looked up at Sasuke. Their eyes met for a few seconds before Sasuke smirked down at her.

"Get dressed, Sakura." He walked past her and went to join Naruto outside.

A blush spread across her face and she made her way to her room. There was just something about the words he said and the fact that it was Sasuke that said them. Put those two together and you get a partially frazzled Sakura.

She put on her outfit and made her way outside. Before she went out the door she saw that her boot had been placed next to it against the wall. She smiled and joined the two in the street. She forgave Naruto for being the idiot that he was and walked towards the Hokage building.

She swiveled her head to look at Naruto and then at Sasuke. They were all back together. Finally, her family wasn't broken anymore.

xxx

"Morning," Sakura greeted as she entered the office. She was surprised to see that they weren't the first ones there. In front of Kakashi's desk were Sai and Yamato. The three walked in and stood next to them and turned towards Kakashi.

Kakashi leaned over his desk and put his chin in one of his open palms. "I have a mission for you four," he said and waved his free hand from Sai to Yamato to Sakura and then to Sasuke.

Sakura was confused. "Don't you want to hear the rest of the report?"

"I do, but this takes precedence."

Naruto didn't like being left out, so he waved his hand in the air and asked, "Why aren't I going?"

Kakashi sat up a bit straighter and picked up a pile of papers sitting on his desk. "I have some information for you, Naruto. Remember when I said that you would be in charge of the ninjas coming into Konoha? Here's a list of them."

Naruto took the papers and briefly flipped through them, not really paying attention to any one name in particular. He just wanted to look like he knew what he was doing.

Kakashi turned his attention to the remaining four. "You four are going to be the Konoha Shinobi to go to the Sand village. Once there you will be briefed on the military forces and be given tasks to fulfill. You will also be responsible for sending back regular reports on what's going on."

Sasuke nodded his head in understanding and so did the other three. He was a little bit taken aback by the mission that he received. He had just gotten back to the village and had been an international criminal while he was away. He did not expect all this trust right from the start.

Kakashi studied Sasuke and saw the look in his eyes of surprise. "Sasuke, we trust you. And right now you are one of the most powerful Shinobi in our arsenal, so we need you involved in this war. We can't hold anything back in order to defeat Madara."

Sasuke nodded once more and watched as Kakashi handed Yamato the mission scroll. "Yamato is captain," he told the three. "You all have half an hour before you need to start making your way over to the Sand." He smiled behind his mask. "Good luck."

Everyone filed out of the office leaving Kakashi alone with the silence. He opened up a drawer in his desk and looked longingly down at his favorite Icha Icha Paradise book.

He sighed and reluctantly shut it. _As soon as this war is over._

xxx

Sakura made her way to the village gates. It only took her ten minutes to get all her stuff together and head over. As she approached the gate she saw that no one else was there. She dropped her pack on the ground before she plopped down herself. She picked up a twig from the ground and started doodling on the pathway. She started to draw a heart.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura jumped a little and looked up to see that Sasuke was standing over her, looking down at her doodles.

"N-Nothing!" she exclaimed and hastily ran her hand over the drawings. She let out a nervous laugh and looked back at Sasuke.

He smirked and turned around to look down the street. The villagers started to file out of their houses and swarm around the streets. Sakura could see one of the villagers look at Sasuke. He whispered in his companion's ear; They both stopped walking and openly looked at Sasuke. However, both of the men were looking at him in shock and loathing. She looked up at Sasuke who was staring right back at them. After about a minute both men began to walk away. Sasuke continued to watch the spot they had occupied even after they abandoned it.

Sasuke had expected the men's reaction. He knew that he wouldn't be able to come back to the village and everyone would welcome him with open arms. But, those people weren't the ones that mattered. He didn't care what they thought of him.

Sakura was angry at the two men. Who gave them the right to stand there and judge Sasuke like that? They didn't even know anything about him. She continued to look at Sasuke and wasn't able to see what those men had seen; A traitor, a villain, a criminal. She was only able to see a close friend who needed help.

And maybe a man who she still loved.

She turned her attention to the ground as she realized this. She had never truly loved anyone else the way that she loved Sasuke. Her heart would never be able to tear itself away from him even though she knew that he would never love her back.

It was all so, so painful.

Sasuke turned towards Sakura and saw that her attention was fixated on the ground in front of her. He thought that she was upset about the men, but she shouldn't be. She should realize that their opinions don't matter.

"Ignore them."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked back up at him. They held each other's gazes for a while before Sai walked up to the pair. Sakura was the first to break eye contact as she stood up and looked at Sai.

"H-Hey, Sai," she said, still a little overwhelmed.

He did one of his smiles and nodded in greeting. He moved his eyes so they were looking at Sasuke. His thoughts instantly turned a bit darker. When the missing-nin had returned he didn't know what to think about it. He wondered what would happen to him once Sasuke returned. Would he be assigned another team? Would Naruto and Sakura forget about him? After he came up with these he soon hated the thought of Sasuke coming home.

Sasuke held his gaze steady until Yamato arrived a few seconds later.

Their captain looked at the team and was instantly hit with a moment of déjà vu. Naruto hadn't taken a liking to Sai when they first met either.

"Okay, team. We'll head out a bit early since we're all here."

Sakura scanned her home one more time because who knew when she would be able to see it next. Probably after the war was over.

Sasuke felt strange leaving the Village gates. The last time he walked out of this gate he had left Sakura on a bench. He glanced in her direction and then looked forward again.

That was the night everything changed. He wanted nothing more than to go back to that time and stay in the village. He wanted to erase his choice of walking out on everything good that every happened in his life.

xxx

Kabuto and Karin stood a good distance away from the Village of Konoha. Karin had her eyes shut in deep concentration as she traced Sasuke and his team's chakras.

"It looks like they're heading in the direction of the Sand," she stated.

Kabuto gave a low chuckle. "And so it begins."

xxx

Madara opened the door and walked into the cell, his shadow stretching out across the floor. The light made the prisoner flinch and squint his eyes. He was so used to the utter darkness around him, and not just from the cell, but from his entire life.

He clenched his jaw and said, "what do you want?"

Madara spread out his hands. "I want you to do a job for me."

The man laughed, it was harsh and short. "What could I possibly do? I've done enough." He turned his head away from the doorway and faced the dark corner of the cell.

Madara walked up to him and kneeled down so they were level with each other. He waited for the man to face him, but he never did. "Why won't you face me?"

The man thought about the question. Part of him didn't even know the answer himself, but in his gut he knew why he couldn't bare to look Madara in the face at that moment.

"You're not real."

Madara remained in his kneeling position for a few seconds. His visible eye spun red and wild and focused on the man in front of him. "Not real?" Suddenly his anger boiled over and Madara's fist connected with the man's jaw. A crack rang through the small cell like lightning on a clear day.

"Did that feel fake to you?"

The man spit out blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "…you're nothing but a phony…" He stopped to wipe another trickle of blood escaping from the side of his mouth. "…Everything you do, everything you want, everything you stand for…doesn't exist."

Madara lashed out and grabbed the man by the back of the neck. He pulled the man's head back and angrily spat out, "you're going to do what I say! Remember this: You have no further connections to this world. You have nothing more to lose."

"…Not true."

Madara looked at the man skeptically.

"I have everything to lose," he said in a solemn voice.

"You already destroyed your bonds; You are the one who shattered them." Madara got up and walked back towards the door. "Your job is to kill the Kages. I know you have enough power in you to finish them." He paused. "You're going to finish what your brother could not, Itachi."

The door closed and the cell crept back into the silence it has gotten used to. Itachi closed his eyes and pictured his younger brother. He wanted nothing as badly as for Sasuke to live a normal life without anything about revenge to plague his mind.

"You're wrong…I'm dying and powerless." Even though he knew this he didn't let Madara know about his condition.

He didn't know what to think. If he tried to kill the Kages he could save Sasuke from his hatred of them. If he didn't kill them Sasuke would be constantly seeking his revenge on them. Making the decision wasn't easy. But, in the end he decided to take up Madara's job.

Even though he would die in the end he would save Sasuke as much as he possibly could.

xxx

**Thanks for reading chapter 8 of we are always searching! I'm very proud of myself for getting it posted so soon! **

**I hoped you enjoyed it =)**

**Review! Review! Review! =D**

**~LazyApples**


	9. Shattered feelings

**So here's chapter 9 of WAAS! I hope you enjoy it!**

**Please RxR!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…One can only hope!**

xxx

The team order went: Yamato, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai. When Yamato had told them how they were to travel, Sakura knew why Sasuke would be placed in front of her.

_Yamato doesn't trust him enough to put him behind anyone other than himself._

When she first came up with this thought she was a little ticked off. Yamato should know that Sasuke wouldn't try to do anything.

But then again, Yamato didn't know Sasuke the way that she did. Of course he wouldn't trust him right off the bat.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice that Yamato stopped, making Sasuke stop in front of her. She collided right into his back and the two started to tumble down from the treetops.

Sakura gave out a yelp of surprise when Sasuke's arms wound around her.

Sasuke flipped his body over so that the pair landed with their feet on the ground, holding on to Sakura for a little longer than he needed to. He let her go when she started to squirm in his arms. Sakura quickly backed up a few steps and took a deep breath to try and calm her erratic heart beat.

Sasuke looked down at his hands for a brief second and then looked at Sakura. It felt weird - no, not weird - It felt _good_. As he held Sakura close to him he felt as though she was meant to be there; Like no one else in the world would be so right for him.

When he realized this a feeling of warmth spread throughout his body. He didn't know what to make of it because he hadn't felt anything like it before. His mind whirled. He was actually annoyed that he didn't know what to do with this feeling.

Sakura was her usual frazzled self. She knew her feelings for the raven haired teen and she knew that she liked it when he held her. It all just happened so fast and she was taken off guard.

She felt a blush on her face so she straightened her forehead protector in order to shield the blush somewhat from Sasuke.

Sai and Yamato joined the two on the ground. Sai walked over by Sakura.

"What's wrong, Ugly? I thought you knew how to watch where you're going."

"And I thought you were learning how not to be a jerk anymore?" she retaliated.

Yamato stepped forward. "Okay, okay, guys. Enough of that." He then turned his head and looked at the setting sun. "When I stopped up there," he pointed to the treetops, "I was going to say that we should stop and make camp."

"Oh." Sakura had been wondering what made Sasuke stop up there anyway.

After Yamato did the Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique the four went into the newly formed 'tent'. As usual the inside was bare of all furniture.

Sasuke looked around in secret awe. Never before had he seen anyone build a house with just a single jutsu.

Sakura, who had also been amazed the first time Yamato did this technique, watched Sasuke's expression carefully. She wanted to see his mouth drop open in amazement. She felt a little twinge of disappointment when all he did was widen his eyes a fraction.

She gave a small sigh and smiled at him. "If you're wondering how you can learn his jutsu, too bad for you. Yamato-taichou is the only one who can do it." She watched his eyes glance her over and go back to their normal size. "Believe me, I'm just as disappointed as you are."

Yamato sat down against the wall and watched Sasuke and Sakura. It was very strange for him to see Sakura, a highly skilled medic, the girl everyone likes, and a good friend, talking to Sasuke - The ex-criminal.

He knew that they had been teammates before, but it was still astounding to him how close they seemed to be after all these years. They had such a powerful bond and Yamato knew now that nothing would ever be able to break that. The proof being their separation.

Sai sat against the wall and stared blankly at the pair. He watched as the Uchiha easily conversed with Sakura. Inside he felt the jealousy start to build up which was weird for him because he wasn't used to the emotion. He didn't know how to handle his feelings very well yet, but he still felt astonished at himself. He didn't know what to do so he took out his sketchpad and started moving his pencil across the page.

Sakura dropped her backpack to the floor and unzipped it. She unrolled her sleeping bag and sat down pretzel style on top of it. She then proceeded to take off her boots, elbow guards, and her shuriken holster.

She pulled her backpack onto her lap and rummaged through it to find her med pack. When she found it she pulled it out and started to look at the contents inside. She doubled checked everything before she put it back in her pack and placed it next to her.

As she was rummaging through the medical supplies she had felt gloomy. Seeing the supplies jogged her memory of Tsunade and how she wasn't even able to see her before she left for this mission. Silently she got up and walked out of the room to go sit outside.

Sasuke silently watched her actions. He could see the look on her face change from busy to sad when she looked through her pack. She had then exited the room without a word to anyone.

_What's up with her?_

He decided to follow her and find out what she was thinking about.

Outside, Sakura breathed in some of the night's crisp air and slowly blew it back out. She closed her eyes and breathed in the air some more and relaxed her shoulders. She hadn't realized how uptight she had been until she just let everything go.

She walked off the wood entrance and went to a nearby tree. She sat down and leaned her back against the cold, hard bark.

Thoughts about Tsunade came flooding back into her mind, ruining her peaceful state. She became more and more panicked and started to breathe faster than normal. She could feel herself begin to shake as she tried to hold back the painful feelings of her memories.

She remembered the day she asked to become her apprentice. She was so determined to do anything in her power to save the ones that she loved. To this very day she still had that same determination, if not more. So that was why it was so hard for her to learn that Tsunade had passed away.

She wasn't strong enough to save one of the most precious people in the world to her. It was just like losing a mother; it was that painful.

She squeezed her hands together and saw the blood rush from them, leaving behind white nothingness for her to stare at. She didn't feel a thing at that moment; Her whole body felt numb and she heard a ringing in her ears.

_Why did it have to be like this? Why do bad things have to happen?_

"Hey."

Sasuke had put his hand on Sakura's hands and gently squeezed them. She came to and stared confusedly up at him.

"S-Sasuke?" Her voice sounded scared and vulnerable. It sounded like her world had crashed in around her. The sound made Sasuke inwardly wince; He hadn't seen this side of Sakura before. The only time that she came close to this state was when Katsuyu told her that her sensei had passed away.

Realization dawned on Sasuke. She must be thinking about Tsunade.

He remembered when she first found out and silently cried without showing him any of her emotions. That was strange for him because he was used to the girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. This new Sakura that keeps everything bottled inside was something completely different to him.

And he didn't like it one bit.

"Sakura, what are you doing out here?" He kept his hand on hers and stared straight into her eyes. He didn't dare look away from the girl who was slowly breaking in front of him.

"I…I…" Her eyes searched his to look for an answer that he wanted to hear, but for some reason Sakura didn't know what she should tell him. She just wanted to know one thing. "Why?"

Sasuke was confused. "Why, what?"

Her eyes remained focused on his. "Why do we lose people?" Sakura's lips gave out and quivered when she asked her question. Her voice cracked and tears poured down her cheeks. "Why do we lose them?" she gasped out.

Sasuke's heart wrenched at the sight of her. Her eyes revealed that she was shattered and lost.

Without any warning Sakura lunged at Sasuke and the two fell to the ground. She tightly wrapped her fingers around the front of his shirt and sobbed into his shoulder. Sasuke stayed still, not knowing what he should do. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

He felt the same sensation just like he did before when he had held her; He was meant to hold onto her.

Sasuke took a deep breath before he said, "We lose people because we love them too much. We learn to love everything about them and then suddenly they get ripped away from us. Life's not fair that way." Images of his Itachi, parents, and his clan flashed through his mind.

After hearing that Sakura let go of all the emotions that she had been holding onto for a very long time. The longer she was held by Sasuke the more she felt better. She felt so comfortable, and safe laying in his arms. She didn't even feel weird about Sasuke seeing her this weak.

Everything just felt right.

Sasuke heard Sakura's sobbing turn into shaky hiccups. And once the hiccups stopped Sakura's body just shook for a while.

He closed his eyes and started to run his hand up and down her back to try and soothe her. It seemed to work because after a little bit her body stilled and her breathing became even.

The two stayed in their position for a few more minutes before Sakura picked her head up and looked at Sasuke. He could see the tear stains running down her cheeks until they came to her jaw line. Instinctively he reached his hands up and tried to erase the evidence of her crying with his thumbs. As he did this Sakura gave a small smile and sniffled.

Her hand shot up to her nose and her eyes looked mortified. Let's just say that it wasn't a dainty sniffle.

She then realized that she had all of her weight on Sasuke. She quickly rolled off of him and sat arm's length away.

"Sorry! I am so sorry!" She waved her hands in front of her face.

Sasuke sat up and faced her. "Sakura-"

"I didn't mean to lay on top of you!"

"Sakura-"

"And I got your shirt all wet! I'm sorry!"

"Sakura-"

"I'll just leave now. You're probably sick of me." She got up to leave, but when she walked next to Sasuke his hand lashed out and grabbed her wrist, preventing her from leaving.

"Sit down, Sakura."

She obliged and sat down on the spot, not bothering to move away from him.

He looked her in the eyes. "You apologize too much." He wasn't sure why, but he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. He didn't pull back right away so the warmth of their cheeks mixed and locked together.

Sakura's heart and breathing hitched. She couldn't believe what was happening and she couldn't even begin to explain the feelings that she had at the moment. Her whole being seemed to softly buzz and become alive with every passing second.

Sasuke slowly pulled away, but his face remained close to hers. He saw that her eyes were slightly closed and a blush was spread across her face. He could taste her breath on his lips and he forgot everything around him.

Slowly he bent his head towards her.

Sakura could see Sasuke under her half closed eyes. She saw that his eyes weren't the normal eyes that she loved, but bottomless, onyx mirrors that depicted every emotion that he was feeling right then and there.

She loved them even more.

She watched as his lips approached hers slowly. He seemed just like a magnet and she could do nothing but be lured in by his pull.

She took one last breath before she felt Sasuke's lips connect with hers. Everything around her dulled and the only thing that she felt was her connection with Sasuke. She had never felt anything like it in her entire life.

Sasuke was experiencing a completely intense feeling. Every time their lips moved a feeling of warmth spread from his lips down to his toes. Her lips meshed with his in perfect harmony. He never wanted this to end.

Sakura was the first one to break away as she gasped for air. Sasuke was also breathing a little heavier than usual.

She pulled back and really looked at Sasuke. The moonlight slashed across his face giving him dangerous angles; His hair still spiked up in the back even after all these years. The very essence of him was enough to put her over the edge.

Her love for him swelled up inside of her and came out of her in the form of the most beautiful smile that Sasuke has ever seen.

Sakura brought her hand up and rested it on the side of his face. Instantly warmth spread on the area where her hand was. She raised herself up, closed her eyes, and kissed his forehead. She lingered for a few seconds before coming back down to his level.

"I…" She couldn't seem to come up with the words that she wanted to say; Those three words that ran through her head practically every time her eyes fell on him. But for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say them.

Maybe her heart was still wounded from when she first confessed her love for him. She had to take out so much of her courage and he still left her. She wouldn't soon be able to forget the feeling of loss and helplessness.

Sasuke waited to see if she would say what she wanted, but nothing came out. He could feel the emotion radiating off of her, but at the same time he could see the perplexed expression adorned on her face. He didn't understand the situation.

"What's wrong?" His voice came out low and revealed his confusion.

Sakura opened her mouth to say that nothing was wrong, but at that moment Yamato decided to poke his head out the doorway and yell out to them.

"Guys get back in here. You need all the rest you can get." After that he then disappeared behind the doorway.

Sasuke turned back towards Sakura and decided that if she wanted to tell him what she was going to say then she would tell him eventually.

"Come on, let's go in." He got up and offered her his hand.

She slowly nodded and placed her hand in his. He pulled her up and let go of her hand as they walked back towards the house.

That night Sasuke placed his sleeping bag next to Sakura's and he had one of the most peaceful nights of sleep that he had ever had in a long, long time.

xxx

**Okay, guys! So there's chapter 9 of WAAS and I hope you enjoyed it! : )**

**And I wasn't sure if it was too early to have a kiss in the story, but I put one in anyway! It made me happy to write it!**

**Please Review!**

**Well until next time!**

**~Lazyapples**


	10. Chains of Fate

I am so sorry! I honestly didn't mean to not write for as long as I did! I got carried away writing a novel during the duration of the summer and then my senior year seemed to catch up to me so fast! I honestly think this is my hardest year in High school, but shouldn't it be the easiest? anyway, I had this half finished a while ago, so i decided to finally finish it. I hope you aren't too angry with me T_T

_

* * *

_

"Kazekage-sama, the Leaf shinobi have arrived."

Gaara looked up from his paper work at the messenger. The girl stood before him awaiting his response.

"Let them in," he said in his calm voice.

A minute later the door opened and in stepped Yamato, Sai, Sasuke, and Sakura. Gaara's eyes wandered over to the raven haired shinobi. _So, he's back._

Yamato gave him a bow. "Kazekage-sama, we are here to assist you in any way we can."

Gaara stood up and walked in front of his desk. "You are the first to arrive of all the neighboring countries. I expect more to arrive later today." He turned his attention towards Sakura and started to get right down to the business at hand. "You will be working in the hospital. Help out our medics in anyway you can."

Sakura nodded and smiled at him. She had expected to work with the sand medics from the beginning of her mission. The last time she worked with them was to save Kankuro. Everyone had been impressed with her skills when she was able to concoct the antidote that would detoxify the poison that coursed through his veins. "I will do my best."

He then turned towards Sasuke and Sai. "You two will work with our guards. The border patrol will be waiting for you back at the front entrance."

Sasuke wasn't happy about his assignment. Why did he have to work along side Sai, the emotionless idiot? He didn't like this one bit, but he still wouldn't say anything about it. It wasn't his place, and besides it was out of his character to say anything whiny.

At last he turned to Yamato. "I want you to help with our anbu forces."

"Yes." He bowed once more.

Gaara nodded. "That is all. Go to your posts now and get filled in. You will then come back here tonight when all the other shinobi have arrived. I will then give you more information at that time."

Everyone nodded at the order and made their way out of the room.

Sakura looked around the building now and thought that it didn't look that different from the Hokage's building. But it was different. It felt cold and unfamiliar to her. The walls of the Hokage's building held many fond memories to her. It was the place where she did most of her training with Tsunade in her earlier years. It was where she, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi went to get their first mission to the land of Waves.

Now she wouldn't get to go into that building and feel the same way again. Tsunade was gone and even though Sasuke was back now, it wasn't the same. They were no longer the innocent 12 year olds that they used to be. They had all seen things now that changed them, for better or for worse.

Nothing would be the same.

She stepped outside into the dusty air of the hidden Sand village. She hated how the sand flitted through the wind and collided with her. She had to squint her eyes to prevent anything from getting in them.

"Okay, so now we split up. See you all later," she said and made her way to the hospital. After walking through the winding streets, she eventually made it to her designated building and went in, instantly feeling relieved when the billowing sands weren't combing through her hair anymore.

The Sand's hospital was similar to Konoha's, which made her feel somewhat at home. The familiar sounds and sights didn't help her feelings of sadness though. She once again was brought into memories of her teacher. They had spent countless days and nights in the hospital. It became her home away from home.

She sucked in some air and walked to the front desk. She slapped a smile on her face when the girl behind the desk looked up at her.

"Can I help you?"

Sakura nodded. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I've been assigned to help out here for the time being."

The girl nodded knowingly. "Yes, I heard you were coming. Hold on and I'll get Dr. Akio."

The girl got up and walked down a hallway. Sakura waited for the girl and Doctor to return. After waiting for about twenty minutes she started to get restless. What were they doing?

Another ten minutes went by and still no sign of the girl or Dr. Akio.

_Well, if they won't come to me then I'll go to them._ She went down the hall where the girl walked through. It was long and covered with doors each with a number on them. Sakura got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she went farther into the hall. _Why isn't anyone walking around? Where are all the other nurses and Doctors? _

She opened a random door and stuck her head in. A patient was fast asleep in his bed. The monitor he was hooked up to beeped rhythmically. Nothing out of the norm here.

She closed the door quietly and continued on her search for someone who could help her. She passed by a few more doors before one of them swung open and out came the girl who was now accompanied by a man.

"Oh. You didn't have to come look for us. I was just on my way back to the front desk with Dr. Akio." The girl spoke with a smile on her face, but her smile was different from before. It was warm when Sakura first met her, now it was cold and uncaring.

"Well, I was just wondering why it was taking so long." Sakura tried to get a look into the room where they had just emerged from, but the Doctor swiftly closed it. Looking into his eyes for the first time, Sakura didn't see the care a doctor should have in them. It was as if they were dead.

He gave a quick smile and held out his hand for her. "You must be Haruno Sakura. Pleased to meet you. I'm Dr. Akio."

She took his hand hesitantly and quickly retracted if from his grasp. "So what's wrong with the patients in that room? It must be bad since it took such a long time." She poked for an answer. If she wasn't going to get a look in the room then she would just have to ask. Dr. Akio shouldn't be able to withhold information from her concerning the well being of patients. She was, after all, sent here to assist him in anyway she could.

"It's nothing too serious. They got back from a mission a few weeks ago and are now recovering." His voice was sharp and the undertone was implied that Sakura should drop the subject.

Too bad that she didn't.

"May I take a look at them?"

Dr. Akio's eyes slit a fraction. "No, that won't be necessary."

Sakura pushed past him and opened the door. The Doctor seemed to be taken aback by her strength. She walked into the room to find two patients laying in beds, bandages covering their bodies. Their faces were even fully covered.

She walked up to the closest bed and looked down at the crippled shinobi in front of her. There's no way that their injuries weren't a big deal. Sakura couldn't even see a speck of their skin due to the bandages. She then searched for the charts, but they were no where she could see them.

"Where are the patient's charts?" She stared sternly at the doctor, who had followed her into the room.

He moved toward her. "I did not give you permission to come into this room. You need to exit it immediately."

There was something threatening in his voice. His words were spoken crisply and had and undertone that seemed to say _Or else._

Sakura stood her ground and stared into the doctor's dead eyes. He stared back at her, unwilling to let her stay with the patients.

In the end she decided to leave the room. She wanted to know what was wrong with these shinobi and she wouldn't do that if she was on Dr. Akio's bad side more than she already was.

She slid past him and watched as his eyes found hers in a creepy glance. A chill ran up her spine, suddenly she just wanted to get as far from this man as she could. She hasn't felt the sudden need to run from anyone in years. So, what was the deal with this doctor?

As she walked out of the room the girl glared at her. Okay, what the heck was wrong with these people?

She was definitely going to find out.

xxx

Sasuke hated sand. It got into places that it shouldn't and it makes him want to shield his eyes. Too bad that would mean that he would need to take his hands out of his pockets. That wasn't happening. That would make him seem weak while walking next to Sai. No way was the emotionless block going to have something to laugh at him about.

Sasuke scoffed. _If he even could laugh._

Sai gave the obsidian eyed teen next to him a quick glance. He thought he heard a noise coming from his direction, but Sasuke's features gave away nothing.

Turning his attention forward again he saw the gate coming into view. A man was standing with his arms crossed looking in their direction. Upon getting closer, Sai was able to see that he looked unhappy and it wasn't just the sand and the hot weather. No, he was staring directly at Sasuke.

Sasuke stared straight into the man's eyes. Of course he knew that people in Sand would just be as wary about him as they had been back in Konoha. No one would trust an ex-missing nin. Well, besides his teammates, but that's the exception.

"As Kazekage-sama has instructed you two are to survey the borders alongside our men," the man said when Sasuke and Sai came to a stop in front of him.

Before they could say anything the man turned and started to walk up a set of stairs on the giant half-dome that encompassed the borders of the Sand village. The two leaf shinobi followed him as he gave more instructions.

"Both of you are to report to me at the beginning and end of every day. My name is Senyu." He gave a quick glance back at the teens behind him. "If you see anything suspicious notify a Sand shinobi before taking any action. Any questions?"

The two shinobi stayed true to their nature and said nothing in response to Senyu. They reached the end of the stairs and Senyu turned to look at them fully now.

"No questions? Then get to it."

Sasuke and Sai nodded in affirmation. Senyu left, but not before giving Sasuke a subtle glare. Once again, it didn't go unnoticed by the raven haired teen. Sasuke could feel his anger slowly rise to its surface. He understood that it was hard for people to accept that he wasn't involved in corrupted behavior anymore, but he couldn't help but be perturbed by the way they were treating him. He knew that their opinions of him shouldn't matter, but he was after all only human. Things hurt.

Walking next to Sasuke, Sai was a little confused. He sort of enjoyed seeing people treat Sasuke as if he had the plague, but then he wanted them to stop treating him that way. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that the way people went around showing how much they disliked Sasuke was wrong. Being around Naruto so much has taught him something about compassion for living things.

So, was how he felt about Sasuke wrong? Was it bad of him to have angry feelings about him coming home? Should he really be jealous of the attention that Naruto and Sakura were giving Sasuke?

Sai didn't know.

"We should split up."

Sasuke startled Sai out of his thoughts. Still a little dazed, Sai nodded and watched as Sasuke turned back and went the way they had just come from. Sai stared at his back. It seemed to tell his story, the way he held himself; head held high, shoulders back as if nothing could weigh him down. There was a certain weightless look to Sasuke, as if he belonged soaring among the clouds and not chained down to the unforgiving earth bound by the judgments passed by strangers.

He looked like he wanted to be set free from his binds.

____

Perhaps…maybe someday, I too…

* * *

Okie dokie guys, there it is! I can't make anymore promises that I will update anytime soon. I shouldn't have said that the last time and I apologize for that. Basketball is starting and my time will be taken for most of the time. What I can promise is that I will continue to work hard on WAAS as much as I can.

~Lazyapples

Please RxR!


	11. Just one more struggle

Okay, so here's the next chapter of WAAS! The last one was kind of filler-esque. This one has action in it, I promise!

okie dokie! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto...

* * *

"This is where you'll be staying." The young girl said as she opened a door for the leaf shinobi.

Yamato turned to her. "Thank you."

The girl nodded and snuck a glance in Sasuke's direction. Her cheeks grew a little pinker. "If there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask. I'll be downstairs."

Sakura watched the girl fall for Sasuke just as almost every girl he encountered did, herself included. She couldn't help herself from getting a little angry at the girl. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help but feel protective over Sasuke. She didn't like the way girls stared at him before, but now it was different. Now she knew he was hers and she didn't want any girls looking at him longingly anymore. Even though it was inevitable that girls were going to look at him with puppy dog eyes; He was too good looking for his own good.

"Okay, thanks," Sakura said and ushered her teammates through the open door. She then shut the door when she was through and turned to look at her teammates who were giving her weird looks. Sakura gave a nervous laugh. "What?"

Sasuke slightly shook his head and smirked at her. He knew why she was so agitated. However, she should know that she has nothing to worry about. He had no interest in the girls that fawned at the mere sight of him.

Yamato shook his head warily and sighed. "Nothing," he said and then looked around at everyone. "How did things go for everyone?"

After a short silence Sai spoke up. "Nothing was out of the ordinary. Sasuke and I were assigned to patrol the village limits."

Yamato nodded and then turned back to Sakura. "And how was the hospital?"

Sakura stared at Yamato, but wasn't exactly looking at him. She was zoning out, remembering earlier how weird the hospital was - How Dr. Akio and that girl acted so strangely. She still didn't know the reason behind their behavior yet.

"Sakura?"

Sakura blinked, getting out of her stupor. Her eyes were fixed on Yamato. "It was…bizarre."

Sasuke was surprised by her answer. Did something happen to her at the Hospital? No, that couldn't be it. If it was then Sakura would've said something to the group by now. Sasuke gave her a questioning look. "How so?"

Sakura turned her attention to Sasuke. She could see the scrutinizing look in his eyes. "Well, when I got there the nurse at the front desk went to go look for Dr. Akio when I asked about him. They didn't come back for a while, so I went looking for them. When I found them something changed about the girl. I don't know how to describe it…her smile was…wicked. And the doctor's eyes looked cold, lifeless." She then turned to look at Yamato once again, but her eyes slit a fraction, giving off an air of seriousness. "They wouldn't let me look at two patients' charts."

Sasuke immediately understood why Sakura had thought her visit to the hospital had been strange. Why would a doctor withhold information on patients? Especially when Sakura would have been able to exponentially help them if she knew what happened to the two shinobi. Something just didn't add up right.

Yamato also saw the strangeness in Sakura's day at the hospital. "That is perplexing. What did you do after that?"

"They had me file paper work. They've been backed up for weeks." Sakura groaned at the memory. Her hand still kind of hurt from all the writing she'd done that day. She didn't like paper work when she had to do it back home. She thought that her talents were going to be put to better use in Sand other than stupid paper work, not that they were going to be used for something like paper work. Wasn't that the Sand Medics' job?

Yamato thought about Sakura's predicament. "The best thing for you to do is wait it out. Carefully analyze their actions and report them to me at the end of every day."

Sakura nodded her head. "Yes."

"Okay, that's enough for today. Everyone get some rest." Yamato clapped his hands together as he gave the order.

The teens turned around and saw that there were only two bedrooms. They stopped and looked at each other. Sasuke and Sakura both had the same thought.

They wanted to share.

Sakura quickly took control of the situation. "Sasuke and I should share a room. I'm the only one who has known him the longest." She looked over at Yamato. Her eyes told him _I'm the only one he trusts._

The message went through to Yamato and he agreed. For them to function smoothly, Sasuke needed to be somewhat comfortable. Personally he didn't know what Sasuke was like when he was irritated, but based on his past, Yamato figured it wasn't good.

"Okay. Sai and I will share a room then."

With that Sakura, followed by Sasuke, went into one of the bedrooms. Sakura walked towards the window on the opposite side of the room. When she was about half way there she heard the click as the door closed behind Sasuke. Her heart started thudding faster against her chest and she could feel Sasuke's presence behind her.

She made it to the window and looked outside. Sasuke came up behind her and put his hands on the windowsill so that Sakura was trapped. She tried to steady her breathing, but it was no use. She could see Sasuke's reflection in the window and his eyes connected with hers.

_Kami, he's so handsome._

Sasuke turned her around and stared into her eyes for a little longer. He then dipped his head slowly, keeping eye contact with her until he lightly kissed her mouth. It was the softest kiss that he could've given her. He then slowly traced kisses along her jaw line.

Sakura was in a state of utter euphoria. "Sas…Sasuke. Since when did you become…such a touchy person?" Not that she was complaining or anything, this just wasn't like him.

Sasuke leaned his forehead against hers. "Since I found out how much I like touching you."

A shiver ran up Sakura's spine. His voice was so deep it felt like it went through her just like water slipping through her fingers.

Sakura wrapped her fingers around his neck and pulled him towards her. He showed no objection and eagerly met her lips with his.

Just as the very first time they kissed, Sasuke felt like he was submerged in warm honey.

Sakura curled her toes and leaned into the kiss more. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned back slightly. Sakura had to stand on her tip toes to reach him now.

Eventually, Sakura ran out of breath and she had to pull back for air. Her hands rested on Sasuke's chest while Sasuke's arms still encircled her.

"We…better go to sleep. Long day tomorrow," Sakura breathed out. She could barely think straight so it was a miracle that she was even able to get the sentence out.

Sasuke's eyes smoldered and he kissed her again. It was a quick, but passionate kiss. It left Sakura wanting more when he pulled away and walked to the bed. Sakura watched as he took off his katana and leaned it against the wall next to the bed. He took his sandals off and pulled the covers down on his side. He laid down and pulled the covers back to their original position.

"Sakura, you were the one who said we were supposed to go to bed. Don't make me come back over there."

Sakura really wanted to see what he would do if she stayed put in her spot. But then again, she was really tired and had to get up early the next morning. She walked to the bed, took off her sandals, shuriken holster, and medic pouch. She then climbed into the bed and turned towards Sasuke.

She smiled when she saw that he was also facing her. She giggled when his arms twisted around her and pulled her to him.

Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a sigh of content. Sakura continued to smile at him.

"Go to sleep, Sakura. It's rude to stare." Sasuke's eyes remained closed as he spoke. A smirk was also spread across his face.

A bigger smile snuck on Sakura's face. "Goodnight, Sasuke." She placed one last kiss on his lips before closing her eyes and falling into a peaceful sleep.

xxx

The door burst open and Dr. Akio came running in. Sakura looked up from her paper work that she had been dutifully doing and gave a questioning look at the doctor.

"What is it?" She got up from behind the desk and ran around it to meet him.

His breathing was a little abnormal, but he managed to answer her. "Shinobi are under attack! They need medics immediately!"

Without hesitating, Sakura grabbed Dr. Akio's arm and led him out the door. "Which way?"

"This way!" Dr. Akio ran ahead of her. He ran through the streets on a mission, nothing would get in his way. Sakura followed him without a problem. She was slightly annoyed that he couldn't move any faster - People were depending on them to get there in time.

Finally getting too impatient, Sakura yelled out to the doctor. "Where is it exactly? I can get there fast enough!"

Dr. Akio pointed to the north. "keep heading that way until you get to a big opening. It's in a training ground!"

"Got it!" Sakura sped up and past the struggling doctor. She followed his directions and eventually got to the place that he described. She ran through the gates to the practice field and looked around for the injured shinobi or any sign of the danger.

Nothing.

She walked more into the field, making sure she was still on her guard, ready for anything. "Hello?"

A gust of wind blew through the area, sending sand up into her face. She brought her hands up to her face to shield it somewhat from the irritating sand. At that moment she heard the gate behind her bang shut.

Her heart stopped when she turned around to look at the closed gate. In front of it was the nurse from the hospital the other day.

"What…are you doing?" Sakura was completely confused. Why was she here? Where were the injured shinobi? What was going on in this place?

"You know, everyone says you're so smart. Too bad they're wrong. You sure are stupid." The nurse walked towards Sakura now, a menacing look on her face.

Sakura got into a defensive position. "Who are you?"

The nurse stopped and gave Sakura a malicious smile. "I'm the person who's going to kill you."

Sakura immediately put her hand to the kunai strapped at her thigh. She brought it up and held it out in front of her. "Just try it."

The two ran at each other. Sakura threw her kunai at the nurse's legs. The nurse jumped and Sakura quickly jumped into the air with her and threw a punch to the girl's stomach. The nurse threw her hands down on top of Sakura's fist right before the punch made contact - making it swerve away from its intended target.

The nurse then kicked Sakura in the stomach, forcing Sakura back down to the ground and away from her.

Sakura landed on her feet, ready to run at the nurse once again, but she was stopped by her taunting voice.

"So this is the best Tsunade's apprentice can do? Maybe the great Tsunade wasn't all she was cracked up to be."

"Shut up! You have no idea what you're talking about!" Sakura ran at the girl with rage. She collected chakra in her fist and jumped into the air right above the nurse. Aiming her fist at the girl, Sakura came down directly above her. The girl moved at the last minute. Sakura felt her fist nick the girls shirt right before it hit the ground.

The ground shook and split under the pressure Sakura had built up in her fist. The nurse fell over from the great impact. She then tried to get away but kept tripping on her feet.

Sakura grabbed the girl by the front of her shirt and brought her face close to hers. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

The nurse didn't answer and averted her eyes. Sakura gave her a shake. "Who are you!"

Suddenly a pain shot through her neck and Sakura was forced to let go of the girl in front of her. The nurse wasted no time and scuttled away from the pink haired medic.

Sakura's body started shaking and she could no longer hold herself up anymore. She hit the ground on her side and watched as the nurse stood up and smiled down on her. Sakura then looked past the nurse and saw that Dr. Akio was standing by the gate.

"He…Help-p…" Sakura could barely speak now. She could tell that it was because of a poison. She didn't know what type at the moment.

Dr. Akio calmly walked over and stood by the nurse.

_Unbelievable! _Sakura was so angry that she let this happen to herself. "What…w-what d-did y-y-you…do…to m-me?" Her body continued to shake against her will.

Dr. Akio smiled down at the girl writhing on the ground in front of him. "Let me show you."

A puff of smoke surrounded the two in front of Sakura, temporarily shielding them from her vision, which was starting to fade.

The dust soon cleared and where the doctor and nurse used to be, stood Kabuto and Karin.

Sakura could barely keep her head up now. Kabuto, who had poisoned her with a senbon, walked up to her and knelt down in front of her.

"Do you know why we're here?" He waited for a few seconds. "Oh, that's right - you can't talk, can you? I'll just tell you then." He leaned in closer to her. "We were sent to kill you."

Sakura was scared. There was no way she would be able to get away in this situation. Kabuto had effectively cut off her ability to do anything and now he was just taunting her.

She was going to die.

A single tear slid down her cheek. She didn't want to die. She wanted to live for a long time. She wanted to live her life beside Sasuke.

_Sasuke._

What was he going to do? Would he find her in this pathetic position? Would he cry over her body? Would he want to get revenge? That was the last thing Sakura wanted Sasuke to do. Revenge doesn't help anyone. He of all people should know that by now.

She just wanted him to be happy. He had to experience so much in his lifetime, this would just be one more thing for him to add on his list of tragedies.

"Let me kill her," Karin's voice rang out loud and clear across the clearing.

Kabuto stood aside and gestured at Sakura. "After you."

Sakura stared in fear as Karin slowly made her way to where she lay on the ground. She grabbed the same kunai that Sakura had flung at her when they started fighting.

"You should've stayed away from Sasuke." Karin finally came to a stop in front of Sakura, twirling the knife on her finger. "Now you're going to die by your own weapon."

Sakura could only stare as Karin's arm swung down with the knife pointed directly over her heart.

_Goodbye…Sasuke._

xxx

**5 minutes earlier...**

Sasuke felt a chill run down his spine. He looked down at the village. Nothing seemed to be amiss.

So what was it that was nagging at the back of his mind?

He continued his walk around the village's inner ledge. However the awful feeling continued to follow him.

_This is ridiculous._

Sasuke closed his eyes and opened them as his Sharingan. He quickly ran his eyes over the village once more, this time focusing on the distinct chakras. There was something strange about one of the training fields off in the distance. Chakra flickered like crazy between two people. He immediately knew that one of them was Sakura. Her chakra was warm and inviting. The other person had cold and cruel chakra.

_Karin._

After watching the chakra for a little bit he could tell that it was the red head that obsessed over him.

Immediately, Sasuke took off in the direction of Sakura and Karin.

_Why is Karin here? What's she up to?_

Sasuke jumped from rooftop to rooftop as fast as he could. His eyes remained fixed on the spot the two kunoichis were fighting. Since his eyes were trained on the spot, he didn't miss the moment when Kabuto came within the barriers of the training field.

Sasuke quickened his pace. There was no way that he was going to let Sakura be alone with those two. What was going on?

Sasuke saw that Sakura suddenly stopped her movements. Her chakra flickered around like a lightning bug. Sasuke burst through the gates of the training field just in time to see Karin swing her arm back and then forward at Sakura.

_No! _

Sasuke lurched forward, lightning fast, brought his shoulder down and ran right into Karin's back. The red head was thrown forward away from Sakura.

Karin hit the ground hard. Sasuke's chakra had basically appeared out of nowhere. She had no time to react to it.

Sasuke quickly picked Sakura up bridal style and moved away from the others. Sasuke scanned the area and saw that Kabuto was staring at him. Sasuke didn't care though, he turned his attention to the girl in his arms.

Sasuke's heart wrenched at the sight of Sakura.

Sakura was still shaking and her vision was blurring more rapidly now. Even if she was blind as a bat, she would be able to tell that it was Sasuke holding her protectively.

Her mouth hung open and she stared up into the blur that was his face. "Sas-Sasu…ke?"

Sasuke leaned his head down and kissed her forehead. "Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, Sakura. Everything's going to be fine now."

Sasuke then placed her against the wall and turned towards the two shinobi in front of him. His Sharingan was spinning wildly as he looked at the two.

"You're going to pay," Sasuke growled out. He unsheathed his Katana and stared death at Kabuto and Karin. "You're going to pay."

* * *

Wow...I think that's the longest chapter I've written for WAAS so far! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

Please RxR! I get a gooey feeling inside when i read them! =D

Okay, so next time you'll look forward to Sasuke's fight with Kabuto and Karin! YAY!

Well, until next time,

~LazyApples


	12. Old Stupid Faces

**Chapter 12 of WAAS! Sorry about the wait, but hey you have to admit it's faster than my updates used to be (The exception being the last chapter because that was really fast for me ;D)**

**Please RxR! They make me oh so happy!**

**Disclaimer: …..Do you honestly think I'm rich enough to own Naruto?**

* * *

Kabuto smiled at the fuming Uchiha. "What's wrong? Is she not dead yet?"

Sasuke glared at him. He knew that Kabuto loved to play with people's minds. In Sound it was the man's job to interrogate prisoners. Even though he was a medical ninja, no one else really held his talent of getting inside someone's head and messing around. Sometimes even in the literal sense. He would stare into a person's eyes and know their greatest fear. Once he knew that the prisoners were like putty in his hands. Fresh for the torturing.

This was a prime opportunity for him to exercise his hobby.

Sasuke sprinted forward, his katana in the attack position.

Kabuto snickered and jumped away from the approaching menace. He landed lightly on a nearby tree branch. He put his hands in front of his body, palms up, facing Sasuke. "I'm not the one you need to be worrying about right now." He pointed behind Sasuke at Sakura.

Sasuke immediately whipped his head around and sought out Sakura's form. Karin was encroaching on her fast and Sakura could do nothing to protect herself.

Sasuke sprinted back to where Sakura was, but Karin had gotten there first. A growl came out of his throat and he picked up his speed. He couldn't let anything happen to Sakura. He just couldn't. She needed him now and there was no way that he was going to let her down.

Karin's back was to him and she had the kunai in her hand poised for the final blow once again. Before Karin could move the blade any closer Sasuke plunged the end of his katana through Karin's side.

Relief ran over him as he ran his katana through the girl. He wasn't exactly happy that he needed to stab her, even if she was Karin - the most annoying thing to ever come out of the earth. He was just happy that he was able to stop the girl from harming Sakura.

Karin felt the cold metal run through her and dropped the knife she had been holding. A trickle of blood escaped her mouth and ran down her chin. She slowly turned her head to see Sasuke's Sharingan spinning wildly at her.

She couldn't believe it: He actually stabbed her. The love of her life had just decided to kill her. With everything that had happened between them when they had traveled together (Which really was nothing, but in her mind her communication with Sasuke had to mean _something _at least). Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes, one of them slid down her cheek and intertwined with her blood.

"Sa-Sasuke?" She barely managed to get his name out before she had to cough.

Sasuke looked down at her with cold eyes. He wasn't feeling any sort of compassion for the girl. She got what was coming to her. "Don't be so dramatic, Karin. You aren't going to die, I didn't hit any of your organs." He didn't want to kill her. He wanted to hurt her badly for what she did to Sakura, but he didn't want to kill her. He wanted information and she would be the one to give it to him.

Clapping resonated throughout the dome making Sasuke look back at its source: Kabuto.

"Well done, little Sasuke," he said and walked closer to them. "I have to thank you for taking care of her for me. She really was quite the nuisance."

Karin was baffled. First Sasuke ran a katana through her and now Kabuto was betraying her? Tears were now a constant stream running down her face. The whole time that they were together she suspected no form of treachery from him. Even though in the beginning she hadn't really trust the man. She should've trusted her gut instincts from the start of this whole thing. Then she did start to trust him. They had worked well with each other to come up with a plan to get the stupid pinky alone so they could kill her. And now…He was going to just abandon her?

Leave her in the hands of Sasuke? Looking into the Uchiha's eyes she knew that he could kill her anytime he wanted. She was just a twig in his hands that could snap at the holder's command.

"Why…Kabuto?" she asked with a shaky voice.

Kabuto raised a hand and waved it in the air nonchalantly. "No reason, really. I just don't like you."

Sasuke watched the exchange carefully. He didn't really know what to do with Karin at the moment, so he picked her up and set her down against the wall far away from Sakura. The whole time he did this Sasuke kept his eye on Kabuto to make sure he didn't advance on Sakura. He would be damned if Sakura was hurt because he had to move Karin out of the way.

When Karin was out of his arms Sasuke fully faced Kabuto and glared at him.

Kabuto laughed. "Oh come now, Sasuke. Don't look so grim. Just think - by the end of the day you won't have any girls fawning over you. They'll both be dead. Well…hopefully."

"You're insane." He didn't like this man one bit. Sasuke had absolutely no idea how he was able to stand him when he was training with Orochimaru.

He should've snapped his neck when he had the chance.

Sasuke disappeared and reappeared behind Kabuto on the tree branch. Kabuto flinched and tried to turn around, but Sasuke grabbed him by the back of the neck.

"What did you do to Sakura?" Sasuke's voice had a dangerous ring to it. He wrapped his katana around and placed it at the edge of Kabuto's throat. He slightly nicked him so Kabuto knew that he was serious.

Kabuto felt a trickle of blood run down his throat and he laughed.

Sasuke wasn't surprised by this; Kabuto always had a twisted mind.

He pushed on his blade a little harder, making Kabuto cease his laughing fit. "What did you do to Sakura? Tell me now!"

"Oh, Sasuke, you should already know what I did to her. It's just a little bit of poison." He said it like poison was just a piece of candy that he decided to give her.

Sasuke hated his carefree attitude. Sakura was sitting over against the wall in pain and Kabuto was making jokes.

"Give me the antidote now!" he barked the command and ran his katana slowly against Kabuto's throat causing the half snake to take a sharp breath.

"Sorry…don't have it," he said simply.

Sasuke was starting to panic on the inside. "Quit screwing around and give it to me!"

Kabuto laughed and didn't say anything else. Suddenly Sasuke had an idea. He grabbed the man and quickly appeared in front of Sakura. He ran Chidori throughout his body so that it could paralyze Kabuto for a moment. He dropped the man and leaned down to Sakura.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." He hated the sight of her. He didn't want to see her suffer like this. He wanted to see the happy Sakura that he was used to now. He wanted to see the Sakura that was very much alive and well.

He put his hand to the side of her neck, where her wound from the poisoned needle was, and wiped some of her blood onto his fingers. Sakura felt his hand on her neck and opened her eyes to look at him. She saw that his face was set in a determined expression, however, his eyes were showing a slight fear. She really didn't know what for…what was going on? Her mind was ringing and everything was starting to blur. Why was she like this? What happened to her?

She looked past Sasuke and saw Kabuto in a heap on the ground. Why was Kabuto there? Why couldn't she remember anything?

"S-Sas…wha..on?" She felt desperate; She had to know the situation. Sakura didn't like to be in this position. She was left open for attack. She needed to get better somehow, but…what happened?

Sasuke pulled his hand away from her neck and smiled down at her. "I'm going to fix this, Sakura. Just hang in there."

In a way it was odd for Sasuke to reassure her because he still wasn't sure that he would save her. He knew that he would do everything in his power to save her, but he didn't know if that would be enough. He hoped to the gods that it would be.

Sakura nodded her head after a brief hesitation. She didn't know much at the moment, but what she did know was that she could trust Sasuke.

She would trust Sasuke with her life.

Sasuke turned his attention back to Kabuto. He crouched down and flipped the man over so that his face wasn't embedded in the ground any more.

Kabuto glared up at the young Uchiha. Sasuke wiped his fingers over the cut on Kabuto's throat. Kabuto knew immediately what Sasuke's plan was.

"You…" Kabuto continued to glare up at the raven haired teen as he made a motion with the hand at his side. He knew that Sasuke was planning on poisoning him with the same poison that Sakura was effected by. Smart plan. Especially since Kabuto hadn't had time to become immune to the poison he had used. The poison was only a few weeks old, not enough time for him to take tiny samples of it so that he would be tolerant of the poison. Kabuto scoffed, he knew he should have used one of hit older toxins. The thing was that he was so eager to try his new experiment out that he didn't think of the possible consequences.

So stupid.

He finally reached into the holster on his thigh and retrieved a small vile. Kabuto quickly used it on himself before Sasuke had time to grab it from him.

Sasuke saw the vile as Kabuto jammed it in the side of his leg. He desperately reached for the thing and got it when the contents were already half way gone. Sasuke looked down at the clear liquid that would cure Sakura.

Would half be enough to cure her? Only one way to find out.

He turned towards Sakura and punctured the needle through her leg. He anxiously watched her face as he waited for the effects of the poison to wear off. As every second passed, Sasuke saw color start to return to her skin. Her cheeks were no longer a sickly pale, but instead the rosy hue was beginning to return to them.

On the outside Sakura looked to be doing better. But that was only the half of it. Sakura's head hurt. There was this throbbing in the back and side of her head. She grabbed her head in her hands and moaned out in pain.

Sasuke stared down at her in worry. Why was she in pain? Shouldn't she be getting better?

He was definitely panicking now. He watched as the girl grasped her head and rocked back and forth. Sasuke quickly looked over at Kabuto, but he was gone. There was absolutely no trace of the half snake. Looking around he noticed that Karin was still laying on the ground a ways away. So, Kabuto left without Karin? Why?

Sakura's moaning brought his gaze back to her. Sasuke's mind was spinning with thoughts. He thought about the time when she saved him from Danzou. Without her to help him he surely would have died. Then he thought back to the night when Sakura's mask fell and her emotions poured out of her because of the death of Tsunade. She was so broken that it hurt Sasuke to even think back on that night. But that night also held one of his best memories; It was the night of their first kiss. He had never experienced the feelings that he felt when he kissed Sakura before. It made his stomach start to burn with the sensation to fully encompass the girl and never let her go.

It was strange for him to come to this realization but he didn't know what he would do if Sakura were to die. She wasn't supposed to die, not like this. Not because of some stupid poison!

Determination replaced the look of fear on his face and he grabbed Sakura by her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Sakura, you fight this. You're stronger than this thing…Beat it!"

Sakura's eyes were glued to Sasuke. Hearing his voice lit a fire within her. The pain in her head still loomed over her. However, the look of determination that Sasuke was showing her reminded her of who she was.

She was Haruno Sakura, Damnit!

She gathered the chakra that she had left and searched her body for the poison. Most of it was already gone, which she didn't understand. Was she given an antidote already? If she was then why wasn't all of the poison gone? Had something gone wrong? She mentally shook her head. She couldn't be worrying about this stuff now; She had to concentrate on the task at hand.

Not dying did sound very pleasing to her.

Sakura concentrated on the poison that she found in various spots in her body.

Kami, she hoped this would work.

With all the strength she had left she forced her chakra to push the poison towards her skin. She pushed the poison so much that it was forced out of her.

Sakura was panting hard and her skin was covered in sweat…or so Sasuke thought. The poison was coming out of her in the form of sweat, clear and salty. Sakura didn't stop until she felt that all traces off the poison were gone.

The throbbing in her head was barely there and her vision was coming back to her. She looked up at Sasuke's face and gave him a small smile.

"Sasuke…"

His face was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

* * *

**Okay, well there you have it! Chapter 12 of WAAS! Thank you for reading it and I hoped you enjoyed it! And if you so happen to have enjoyed it so much, you should leave a pretty review for me! It is approaching the holidays so spread some joy and cheer people! Teehee =D**

**So, I will get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but until then peace!**

**~LazyApples**


	13. Return of the Unwanted

**Okay, people! Here's the next chapter of WAAS!**

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed my story so far! =D I want to let you know that I appreciate every single one of them! So THANK YOU! XD XD XD XD XD XD**

**Disclaimer:…No, I do not own Naruto, however I do own my Sasuke keychain! Teehee =)**

* * *

_Stay with me, Sakura_, Sasuke thought and picked her up bridal style and ran out of the training grounds. He had left Karin behind, not really worrying about her getting away or dying. Sakura was the one he was worried about. He wasn't sure if she was able to fight off the poison. What if there were still traces of it inside of her?

He zipped through the streets lightning fast and ran right through the hospital doors. There was a nurse sitting behind the desk and he ran up to her.

"Get a doctor." His voice was calm, but he said it quickly. There was no sense in yelling at the girl. He knew that yelling would get him nowhere.

The nurse quickly got up and ran around the desk. She said, "Follow me," and ran down the hallway. Sasuke wasted no time and followed her.

She led him down a few more halls before she brought him to the emergency care section of the hospital. She saw a doctor in the hall and told him to look at Sakura. He knew who she was and quickly escorted them to a room. Sasuke put her down on the table.

The doctor glanced at Sasuke before looking down at Sakura. "You can leave now."

Sasuke gave a growl, signaling that he had no intention of leaving.

The doctor heard him and decided to let him be. He placed one of his hands on Sakura's forehead and one on her stomach. His hands glowed with a light, blue chakra as he searched Sakura's systems for problems. After a few minutes he smiled and turned his attention back to Sasuke.

"There's nothing wrong with her. All she needs is rest."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. "There was no poison?" So, Sakura really did get rid of the poison all on her own.

The doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "No, why? Was she poisoned?"

Sasuke nodded his head.

The doctor looked down at Sakura and shook his head. "There were no traces of poison in any of her systems. There was nothing wrong at all. We'll keep her here for tonight and make sure she gets her rest." The doctor left followed by the nurse, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone.

Sasuke walked over to Sakura and brushed a piece of loose hair out of her face. She looked tired.

He leaned over and whispered, "I'll be back as soon as I can, Sakura." He touched his forehead to hers for a few seconds and then stood up.

xxx

He was back at the training grounds. Just like he thought, Karin had not moved an inch from her spot on the ground. He went over to her, picked her up, and draped her over his shoulder. There was no way that he would pick her up bridal style; He didn't want to have to look at her face.

He disappeared in a cloud of smoke and ended up back at the hospital. The same nurse and doctor were talking behind the front desk. Sasuke walked over and shoved Karin into the doctor's arms.

"Stop her from bleeding to death. We need information from her." He made some hand signs and said, "Have shinobi watch over her. She cannot get away."

He then disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared outside of the Kazekage's building. He opened the doors and walked up the stairs. The double doors were closed so he knocked and waited to be called in.

"Come in."

Sasuke opened the door and walked right up to Gaara's desk. "There were intruders."

Gaara sat up straighter and gave the Uchiha his full attention. "How many?"

"Two. I have one at the hospital right now and the other one escaped." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "The one that got away was Yakushi Kabuto. Karin is in the hospital now being treated. She is under watch."

Gaara nodded and stood up. He walked towards a window and looked outside into the night. He could guess that Sasuke had somehow harmed her in someway; That was why she was in the hospital. "Why were they here?"

Sasuke thought about it for a little bit. "I think they were here for Sakura. They probably planned to kill her, but I don't know the exact reasoning behind it." His fists clenched at the thought of Sakura dead. He hated to even think about it.

Gaara stayed silent and mulled it over in his head. He couldn't think of a specific reason either.

"I will send anbu to escort this Karin to the interrogation squad when she's better. I'll call the rest of your team in here and then you can go get some rest."

Sasuke levelly looked at Gaara. "Is is possible for me to go back to the hospital now?" He wanted to get back to Sakura as soon as he could.

Gaara was surprised by the Uchiha's request. He thought about it and finally nodded. "I don't see why not." He hid the surprise in his voice and went back to looking out the window.

Sasuke nodded and disappeared from the office.

Gaara looked at the spot where Sasuke had just been. His eyes were thoughtful.

xxx

Sasuke made his way back to the hospital and found Sakura's room without a problem. He entered and saw that Sakura was the only one in the room. He was glad for that. He didn't want some nurse to be there and interrupt the peaceful silence.

Sasuke sat in a hospital chair next to Sakura's bed. He had Sakura's hand in his own and was absentmindedly stroking her small hand with his thumb.

It was the middle of the night, moon light shone through the window and slashed across Sakura's calm face. Sasuke stared at her face. He liked her expression because she was no longer in the pain that Kabuto had put her through. He clenched his teeth as he remembered the half snake.

_He got away… _Sasuke wanted to go after him, but his first order of business had been to get Sakura to the hospital.

He knew that the first thing he would always do was take care of Sakura. Even when they were genin he was always looking out for her. Now he knew why.

It wasn't Sakura that needed him, it was he that needed Sakura.

xxx

Naruto looked over his list of the shinobi that were to be coming to the village. There were 50 total. Most of them were already at the village, but then there were some stragglers in the bunch. Naruto would think that since this was war people would be a little more on top of their game? Just a thought.

Naruto walked through the village and stopped at Ichiraku's Ramen. He sat down at a stool and said, "Bring me the usual old man!"

"You got it, Naruto!"

Naruto sat and stared at his hands. He was lost in thought about the war. He didn't know how things were going to go, how many lives were going to be lost, and even if they were going to win.

He furiously shook his head. _No, no, no! We have to win! We won't lose! We can't…_

Naruto was so busy thinking about the war that he didn't notice the person that sat down on his left.

The man waited to see if he would turn towards him, but Naruto didn't so he tapped him on the shoulder. Naruto slightly jumped at the touch and quickly turned his head.

Bad mistake.

Naruto instantly met a pair of Sharingan eyes that spun wildly. He was immediately put in a calm state of mind.

The man steadily held Naruto's gaze. "Hello, Uzumaki Naruto. I am one of the shinobi on your list. My name is Takeo."

Takeo's Sharingan spun faster. Naruto took out his list and wrote down Takeo's name on the bottom.

"Where are you from?" Naruto asked. He had no chance of escape from the older Uchiha's gaze. He didn't even know what was going on. The Fox was sealed out of his mind thanks to Takeo, so even he didn't even know what was going on. Takeo was making himself invisible in the list of people that Naruto had. He needed to be included in Naruto's brigade to get his part of the deal done.

_Flashback…_

_The cave was silent as Takeo sat in the middle meditating. The candles around him flickered at the sudden disturbance. Takeo opened his eyes to Madara standing before him. _

_"I have nothing else for you. I have already given you the sphere, what else do you want?" His legs remained crossed with his hands folded in front of them. He had no reason to fear Madara so he did not get into a defensive position. However, he still watched the man wearily, ready to move if necessary._

_"I need your help." Madara was now without his puppet Sasuke. He had no idea where Karin or Kabuto were. Itachi was still in his cell. He still had Zetsu and Kisame, but neither of them were prime for what he needed to get done. He needed someone who was good at being a fly on the wall. Someone that no one has ever seen before._

_And that person would be Takeo._

_Takeo pulled his lips back in a sly smile. "Me? Whatever would the great Uchiha Madara need my help for?"_

_Madara took a step forward. "You tell me."_

_The smile disappeared from Takeo's face and his eyes slit a fraction. He looked into Madara's revealed eye and sat in silence for a few minutes. He swam through Madara's thoughts and searched for the request that the man had for him._

_Madara felt a little uneasy about his thoughts being so open and vulnerable, but it was the only way that Takeo could fully trust him. He needed the man to trust him._

_His task would be one of the pivotal moments of the war._

_Finally Takeo found it. "Oh, I see. Clever move."_

_Madara nodded. "Do you see why I need you now?"_

_Takeo opened his eyes and left Madara's mind. He looked up at the masked man and a smile crept back onto his face. "Yes, yes I do." He stared at Madara for a little longer before he asked, "Why not have the little Uchiha Sasuke do it instead?" Of course, Takeo already knew that answer to his question. He just wanted Madara to know that he couldn't be controlled like a pawn._

_Madara's eye glared a little and he remained silent. He took the blow silently and waited for Takeo to say something else._

_Takeo finally spoke up after minutes of dominating silence. "Fine, I'll do it." He wanted to get out of this cave and stretch his legs out a bit anyway._

_Madara nodded. "You know what you have to do."_

_"Yes, I will do it. Don't worry."_

_Madara disappeared in a flash. Takeo's eyes remained on the spot where the masked man once had been. _

_"This should be fun."_

_End Flashback…_

"I'm from the Village Hidden in the Clouds." Takeo searched through Naruto's mind and saw that he knew less shinobi from the Land of Lightning.

Naruto numbly nodded and scribbled the information down on the piece of paper.

Takeo stared at the blonde. He didn't know that the boy had Sage powers. That was something that he would have to watch out for. Madara hadn't mentioned that in his thoughts at all. Was he playing with him?

"Is that all you need from me?" Takeo asked.

Naruto nodded his head slowly once again. "Yes."

Before he left he turned his attention to the owner making ramen. "Hey, mister?" Teuchi, the owner, turned around and looked at Takeo. Takeo's Sharingan spun wildly, making sure the man wouldn't remember that he had stopped by. "Well then, I must be off." Takeo disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto shook his head and looked around his favorite Ramen stand. He had the strange feeling that something just happened, but he had no idea what. He turned his attention to the owner, Teuchi, and asked, "Hey, old man? Did something just happen?"

Teuchi turned around at the question. He wiped his hands on a towel and scrunched his face. "I don't think so. I didn't see anything." He had a weird look on his face as if he was trying to recall any memories within the last few minutes. Like Naruto he had the vague feeling that something was amiss, but he didn't know what.

Takeo had successfully managed to erase his little visit.

* * *

**Okay, so that was chapter 13 of WAAS! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**O.o TAKEO'S BACK! For those of you who don't remember who Takeo is then you could reference chapter 3. He's the guy that Madara wanted Sakura to heal and he gave Madara this sphere thingy. So yeah it's been a while since he's been in here. And what could his plan be? Bwahahaha It might be obvious to some, but then maybe not! You'll just have to wait and find out! =D**

**This chapter was kind of a filler for Sasuke and Sakura, but not really. I felt funny writing about all the times that Sasuke poofed back and forth from place to place, but it needed to be done. And the reason behind him not poofing with Sakura was to make it more dramatic for him. I wanted him to think about things. I don't know how to explain it…XP Oh well…**

**Until next time!**

**~LazyApples**


End file.
